When the Bough Breaks
by dart53
Summary: When the team is sent over to bring back a reluctant agent they get more than they bargain for.
1. Chapter 1

**When the Bough Breaks**

"Alright gentlemen, gather round, and I'll tell you what we're going to do." Garrison moved towards the table at the end of the room the men shared, kicking the door closed with his foot.

Gathering the remains of his solitaire game out of the way as the Lieutenant dropped the papers he was carrying on the table the cockney pick pocket glanced up, frowning. "You know, Warden, I'm gettin' to where I don't think I like hearin' you say that."

"Come on Goniff how bad could it be?" Casino rolled off his bunk where he'd been reading a well worn letter from his family and started ambling towards the table. "There ain't anything new left,' the safe cracker snorted a laugh, "we done it all."

Actor sat his book aside and knocked the tobacco from his pipe, pocketing it as he pushed out of the leather chair to come and join the conference around the table. "Judging by the look on the Lieutenant's face I would say you might be incorrect in that assumption Casino."

"So what is it this time Warden?" Giving up his usual place at the window by his bed Chief came to the table, pulled a chair around, straddled it and rested his arms on the back as he waited for the answer.

"They're just sending us in for a simple extraction."

Goniff grinned at the men seated around him. "Makes it sound like ruddy dentists visit!"

Garrison laughed as he sorted through the papers and photos on the table. "We just need to get in and get an agent out."

"Yeah! And I'll bet it'll be just that easy too." Casino pulled back one of the chairs and dropped into it. These little jobs were rarely as simple as they sounded when the Warden first pitched them, but he was usually the only one who'd call him on it. "What's the real story? Who's got him?" The last time they went out on a job like this Goniff got himself caught. The little Limey was worked over pretty good and looking right down the throat of a firing squad when the Warden rolled in at the last minute to pick him up. They had to shoot their way out a that one.

"No one, as far as we know," Garrison confided with a furrowed brow, "but he hasn't responded to the order to withdraw."

Actor looked up, frowning his own concern. "I don't believe I like the sound of that, Warden. There could be a number of reasons why..."

"Yeah and the one on the top a the list is bein' a guest of the Gestapo." The safe cracker scowled up at their commander.

"Unless they just put the snatch on him that's not the problem." Garrison crossed his arms on his chest and stared back at Casino. "He's been seen going politely about his regular routine."

"OK, then the next one down the list's even better…." The youngest member of the team took over the position of devil's advocate. "He went over to the other side and don't wanna get out."

"That doesn't make any sense, Chief." Actor reasoned. "If he is working for the Germans he would jump at the chance to come back…"

The young man nodded and finished the thought, effectively cancelling out his own argument. "…so he could work as a double agent for the Krauts."

"Exactly."

Goniff looked from one to the other. "What's 'is problem then?"

The Warden considered the little man and shrugged. "We won't know that until we get over there."

"You got a picture of the mark, … uh…the agent?"

"Only this…" Garrison leaned forward and picked a photo out of the paperwork in front of him and tossed it into the middle of the table. The man that stared up at them was young, in his very early twenties. It was obvious from the smooth forehead and clear eyes that the weight of responsibility had yet to be laid on his shoulders. He was fair, even in the black and white photo his blonde hair and light eyes were obvious, and he seemed slightly built. "This was taken before he went undercover."

"How long has he been working covertly?" Actor picked up the photo and studied it a moment before passing it on.

"A long time." Garrison finally settled himself in a chair and watched as the photograph made its way around the table. "Jeffery Carrigan has been working in Germany as Ernst Hartmann since thirty-eight."

"Jeeze! That's a long time to play act at bein' somebody else." Casino took another look at the young man smiling up from the picture he held in his hand and wondered what working undercover that long could do to a man. Charlie'd only been over there for three years and he cracked, and this guy looked like he was just a kid. As he handed the photo over to Goniff he looked up and caught Garrison's eye. "What makes the brass so sure he's still on our side?"

Garrison shrugged again. "He's still sending information out. And it still checks out." Then he settled more comfortably in his chair. "Carrigan got a position with German Intelligence. It's a low level job but he's got access to a lot of sensitive files. He's been able to send information out when he gets wind of something interesting. He's also been able to substantiate information that comes in from other sources."

"The Jerries must be goin' soft. You'd a thought they'd check a bloke right down to his knickers a'fore they let him anywheres near them kind a files." The little pick pocket puzzled over the photograph before handing it along.

"They did." Garrison said. "He passed their screening with flying colors." To their questioning looks he continued. "Carrigan had family in Germany. He went over in thirty-six and stayed with them… when he was sent back he picked up his cousin's identity."

Casino frowned across the table at him. "The cousin didn't mind?"

"The cousin's dead… The aunt and uncle were already gone by then…. and the cousin was an only child. There weren't any others around after his cousin's death to give him away." Garrison hooked an arm over the back of his chair as he continued to field their questions.

"But surely having connections to America the family's loyalties would have been held suspect."

"Members of the American branch of the family are in the Bund." The Warden explained. "Carrigan's brother, his uncle and three of his cousins are members and he joined after he came home in thirty-six. American membership lists are filed in Germany."

"A guy's family tied up in somethin' like that and they still think they can trust him?" The group's point man turned an unbelieving stare on his leader.

Garrison considered Chief a moment. "They trust me." Born in America but raised in Germany after his father died Garrison came from a similar background and faced the same distrust as Chief unwittingly displayed. His fluency in the language and his intimate knowledge of the country and the political turmoil within it made him a prime candidate for training as an intelligence officer and undercover operator, but even after years of service his grandfather's support for Hitler and his Nazi party left many of those in command suspicious of his true loyalties.

The group's scout paled but before he could open his mouth and try for an apology Garrison waved him off and continued. "Look, he went to them, Chief. When he got home he volunteered for the Army. He told them about his family and he told them what he'd seen over in Germany. He thought he might be able to be of use over there and after he was checked out the Army thought so too. He joined the Bund with their blessing. They figured that might be enough to get him in the door over there. It was pure coincidence that his cousin died while he was there and he was able to take over his identity."

Casino shot him a skeptical look. "Coincidence? I wouldn't put it past 'em to send him over there with orders to off the guy so he could take his place."

The cons sat in silence as they contemplated that possibility. They'd heard rumors about stuff like that and were cynical enough to believe them. Even Goniff, who usually had the most positive outlook of the group, had been over there too many times, seen too much, to put killing off a family member out of the scope of what he considered a spy. Spies… even one workin' for their side gave him the willies.

Actor broke the mood. "It seems like a beautiful set up. Why do they want to remove him if he is in such a valuable position?"

Garrison tapped a report that lay in front of him on the table. "Because we have it on good authority that he's being investigated."

"For what?"

"We don't know. The source could only tell us that he'd seen a file with his name on it."

"Ya see! I told ya the Gestapo was on his tail."

"Casino you said they already had him." Chief reached out and picked up the picture to study it again.

The explosives expert dismissed the difference with a wave of his hand. "Splittin' hairs."

"Uh,,,, Warden." Goniff had been chewing his finger ends since he heard about the dead cousin. "Does this bloke know we're comin' to get him?"

"No. Since we aren't sure why he isn't responding we didn't want to take the chance of sending that information through to him."

"Well that's something' anyway…." Chief looked up. "At least he won't be able to lay a trap for us." With that the young man sent the photograph spinning back to rest of the paperwork that was piled in the middle of the table.

"So how'r we gonna do it?"

"For right now we're just going over to observe him." the Warden told them.

"So, not so sure about him still bein one of us after all?" Casino asked with a sneer.

Garrison reached out to retrieve the photograph and studied it a moment. "Until I know different we treat him as a possible liability."

g

The trip over was free from trouble. Their uniforms and impeccably forged papers had been provided before they left and all of them were more comfortable knowing there was no need to cover telltale blood stains for a change. Once they got on site Garrison spent forty-eight hours observing Carrigan as he went about his routine. The group trailed him from the apartment where he lived to his favorite café and on to the building where he worked, Actor even spent some time inside, ostensibly waiting for an appointment as the surveillance continued.

As he expected Garrison saw no indication that Carrigan had turned his back on his loyalty to the Allies but he hadn't been able to pick up on any overt surveillance of the agent by German intelligence either. Though he knew through his underground contact that another report had found its way into the young man's file, they still had no access to that file, they still didn't what was in those reports.

Garrison gathered the men around him. "Alright, this is how we're going to do it…"

* * *

AN You're into it for 12 chapters on this one. I hope you enjoy it... Please take a moment to review and let me know. Thanks! dale


	2. Chapter 2

ggggggggggg

Executing the plan was simple. Garrison casually walked along the street ahead of Carrigan, waiting for the crowd around them to thin and when it did he simply turned and blocked the other man's path.

"Jeffery Carrigan, General Fremont sends his greetings and wants to know why you haven't been answering any of his recent letters."

After an initial moment of shock Carrigan answered in the same carefully lowered voice. "Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Garrison, Allied Intelligence. I've been sent to get you out." Craig watched as the people on the street stepped around them, giving them a wide berth. Another benefit of the SS uniform he wore, he thought.

"Lieutenant if I was going to get out I would have withdrawn when I got the first order." Carrigan stepped to the side and tried to continue down the street.

Garrison reached his hand out and caught the other man's arm in a firm grip. He smiled and cocked his head to the side as if talking to an old friend. "Why didn't you?"

"I couldn't. … I can't. … It's a long story." Carrigan smiled up at the man, playing along. "Let's just say I'm not leaving, at least not right now, and leave it at that."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter."

"And if I refuse?"

"I'm hoping you won't." He'd kept a firm hold on the agent's arm and he had him turned so he faced him now. Garrison rested his free hand on the man's shoulder and gave him what appeared to be a friendly squeeze. He didn't let go. He didn't have him under control but his touch certainly telegraphed his intent that Carrigan would be going with him, one way or another.

It was easier to ignore the radio messages and then the agent that casually walked by him on the street and delivered the coded order to withdraw. Standing in front of him now was a man who'd been given the chore of getting him out, whether he was willing to go or not, and he looked fully capable of enforcing the general's will. Carrigan turned away to consider his options and then laughed to himself. He didn't have any options, not anymore.

Jeffrey dropped his head. "Lieutenant I can't leave."

"Why not?" Garrison bent his knees and dipped his head to look into the other man's face. A casual observer would think he was concerned over hearing bad news from a friend.

"Like I said, it's a long story."

All he had to do was raise his hand and Casino and Chief would roll out of the car and come to his aid. He could take this guy right off the street, faking an arrest, if he wanted to. Of course the man could scream foul loud enough that someone might notice, might come to his assistance, and then they'd all be in a bind. It would be better to have his cooperation and if that meant letting him tell his story Garrison was willing to do that. "Then the sooner you get started telling it the sooner we'll get to the end and be on our way."

Carrigan knew if he played it right he could get out of this. All he had to do was denounce Garrison as an impostor to any passing soldier. He could claim he was a victim of a kidnapping attempt… But that would bring too much attention his way, even if he could sell it, and that was the last thing he needed right now. All he wanted was to be left alone, to go about his daily routine for just a few more weeks…. He continued to study the man standing solidly in front of him for a moment before making his decision. "All right. But not here. We're already drawing too much attention." The crowd was still giving them a wide berth but there were a few, here and there, who lingered a little too long, looked them over with a little too much interest.

Carrigan hooked an arm through Garrison's and turned him towards one of the beer halls. If there were really observers in the crowd around them they would have thought they were only two old friends who just happened to meet on the street.

g

Garrison glanced around the room. There was a partially enclosed booth that would give them privacy to talk. The SS runes on his collar cleared the way for them when he shouldered another party away from the table, but the proprietor had given them the eye when they took possession of this prime piece of real estate and he had just finished whispering in a young waiter's ear before giving him a shove in their direction. Looked like fear of falling profits out stripped the owner's fear of the SS. Craig smiled and deferred to Carrigan when the server stepped up to take their order. "Dieser Platz ist zu mir neu. Was schlagen Sie vor?"

He watched and listened as the order was placed. If Carrigan was signaling anyone he'd never know it. As soon as the waiter left he leaned forward. "Get started. What's the story?"

But Carrigan silenced him with a wave of his hand. Another man was approaching the table. Water and bread were laid out for them. Before he could start speaking another attendant was there with a pitcher of beer. The young man poured and then stood back smiling expectantly. As soon as they sampled the brew and threw him a couple of enthusiastic reviews he went on his way. Their meal came right on his heels.

Garrison watched the waiter's back as he retreated to the counter after he'd laid out the plates, he turned his gaze back on Carrigan. "I'm listening."

g

Wool itched when someone sweat into it and Casino's jacket was no different. He hooked a finger into the collar, pulling it away from his skin as he mopped up the sweat with a folded cloth. "Jeeze!' he grouched. "You'd think they'd switch to something cooler when the weather changed." Then he glared at Chief who sat watching the restaurant from his position behind the wheel. The damn Indian never seemed to sweat.

The scout continued to scan the street. Garrison and their mark had disappeared into the café over twenty minutes ago. The Warden was supposed to give the guy his orders and then bring him over to the car. They were to head back to the hotel, pick up the others and beat it back to England. That was the plan anyway, but it looked like things had changed. "I don't like it. It's takin' too long."

"What d'you wanna do walk up and ask the bouncer what's goin' on?" Casino countered. "Relax. There's no other way outta that joint but the back door and they'd come right back up that alley over there to get out that way. We'll see 'em."

"I know." They'd cased the joint as soon as Carrigan directed the Warden inside. "But somethin's wrong. They should a been outta there by now."

"Maybe that guy hooked up with somebody he knows and it's just takin' some time to get unhooked." Casino wasn't used to being the one to find reasonable explanations for things but he had to find someway to keep the kid in the car. "Maybe the food's good," then he laughed. "Maybe the waitresses are good." That did the trick.

Chief smiled and cut a look along his shoulder. "Shut up Casino."

The east coast con squirmed in his seat and unbuttoned the top button of his jacket, stuffing the cloth down the back of his collar to protect his skin from the clinging wool fibers. "Whatever happened to plantin' trees on the street for some shade?"

g

The café was busy, popular with both military and locals. From his position in the corner of the booth they appropriated Garrison could keep an eye on the customers and the door. A privacy wall separated them from the boisterous party to their left, swinging doors to the kitchen protected them to the right. Chief had already been in, casually checking out the place before moving on at his subtle signal. Craig waited while Carrigan toyed with his food. … "Well?"

Carrigan glanced around them. This was one of his regular haunts and they were sitting at the table he favored, preferring it for its privacy. He'd known when he disregarded his orders and then ignored the first agent that further action would be taken. At this moment he considered himself lucky to be sitting at this table trying to organize a persuasive argument, instead of lying face down in an alley somewhere with a bullet in his brain.

"I can't leave Lieutenant. There's still too much to do here."

"Command doesn't see it that way" The owner was still watching them, worrying over their enjoyment of his fare. As soon as Garrison tore a piece of bread off and began to chew the proprietor seemed to relax and turned to attend to other duties.

It was an unusual part for him to play. Craig often found himself in the position of, while not exactly ignoring his orders, certainly interpreting them based on his own goals and observations. "You may not have access to the facts they do." The owner was eyeing them again. Garrison forked a bit of sausage into his mouth and then tapped Carrigan's plate with the butt of his knife.

"I'm willing to take the risk." Carrigan cut a piece of meat and sat chewing it.

"They aren't."

Reaching out Carrigan drew a small dish towards him, frowning into it he tore some of his bread and mopped the remnants of the mustard out. Folding the bread over a slice of sausage he considered his table-mate. "Those paper-pushers don't always know best." He pushed away from the table and, taking the empty dish with him, strolled to the counter to refill it with the spicy dark mustard the owner made and proudly served to his customers. As he turned back for the table he was hailed by the man behind the bar. After a quick shrug of apology to Garrison he turned back to engage in the expected friendly conversation but maintained his distance from the barman to reassure Garrison that nothing was being passed between them.

Garrison studied the agent's back as he laughed and talked with the barman. He was leaning casually on the counter, enough distance separated the men he'd easily see if one reached out to deliver any kind of message to the other. And Carrigan kept his voice raised just enough that most of their conversation reached him. From the way he was being treated Carrigan was obviously something of a favored regular here.

Carrigan smiled as he broke off the conversation, calling his excuse over his shoulder as he made his way back to their meeting. Sliding into his seat he liberally dosed his food before shoving the dish across the table.

"Sorry. Albert lives in my building." Carrigan took a sip of his beer. "He was curious about you."

Garrison avoided the mug that sat near his hand and concentrated on his food, adding a heaping spoonful of the mustard over the sausage. "What'd you tell him?"

"That you were evaluating me for a transfer." The agent explained with a shrug. "That if I was lucky enough to get it I might have to leave."

"Laying a little ground work?" He relaxed a little. It was obvious the man still didn't want to leave but it looked like he was prepared to be reasonable.

"Look." Carrigan leaned forward on his elbows and dropped his voice. "I'm in a valuable position here, Lieutenant, right where I am. I'm up for promotion so I'll be able to get even more information out. I've been careful, extremely careful, and I haven't seen any evidence that anyone is on to me." He finally sat back and picked up his beer and finished it off. "This is crazy. They're flinching at shadows, Lieutenant."

Garrison sat and considered what the young man said as he finished his meal. He might be right… They hadn't been given any options on this one but they might be able to get in and see what was actually being put in that file. Maybe it was a case of over reacting, maybe the reports were in support of the promised promotion…. Maybe…

"Your argument's very convincing… but what's the real reason?"

Carrigan chewed the inside of his lower lip and debated the truth he would tell while he watch Garrison finish his meal. "My wife wouldn't want to go, and I'm not leaving her here alone."

"Your wife!" The floor of the café seemed to shift under him when he heard that. "Are you out of your mind!"


	3. Chapter 3

gggggggggggg

"Here they come." Chief watched as the two men stood in the door way, Garrison had his hand up shading his eyes. Seemed they weren't in any hurry to get moving.

"Finally!" Casino said in relief. Now they could finally get outta here, back to the hotel where it was cool…. And then on out of town and back to England. "What'r they doin'?" he asked as he peered through the glare on the car's windshield.

"I don't know." The scout continued to concentrate on the two men intently. The Warden just stood there squinting into the late afternoon sunlight. He was finally jostled into motion by another party of customers exiting the café. As he staggered out of the way the mark slung an arm around his shoulders and they started making their way unsteadily up the street in the direction of the car.

Casino watched a moment. To his mind Garrison wasn't doin' a very good job a play actin'. "Jeeze! Actor needs to give him some lessons or somethin'… He's way over doin' that stagger."

Chief frowned as he watched the two men. He'd never seen the Warden blow a con, and he knew he'd never be drunk on a job… Maybe he just didn't know how to act, or maybe somethin' else was wrong. The pair were still slowly weaving their way down the opposite side of the street towards the car but he fired up the engine and put it in gear. He wanted to get them out of there as soon as he could.

Carrigan was a little more than half a head shorter than Garrison and slightly built. It looked like he'd been taking more and more of the Warden's weight as they shambled along and the Lieutenant's latest stumble sent them weaving off course and out of sight down the alleyway that ran along behind the café.

"That's not in the plan! Let's go!" Chief gunned the motor, made a u-turn in the street and slid to a stop blocking the alley's entrance.

Casino rolled out and headed towards the pair. Carrigan was losing the battle against gravity as he held Garrison propped against the wall and went through his pockets. "Hey!" But then common sense took over _"_Stoppen Sie das!" He shouted as he broke into a run.

Chief checked the street. They hadn't drawn a crowd yet but it wouldn't be long. He bailed out of the car and raced after Casino.

"Ich fürchte mich, dass er krank ist." Carrigan threw a desperate helpful look in the pair's direction "Ich suche nach den Kapitän's Personalausweisen." When neither of the men responded with more than a slightly confused look it only took a split second for Jeffery to take a chance and shift into English. "Thank God! I don't know what's wrong. He's probably just drunk but we've got to get him out of here!"

Chief stepped to the Warden's side and drew his arm across his shoulder. Casino tried the same on the other side but had to duck under their commander's fist when it flashed out at him first. When they finally had Garrison strung up between them and turned back towards the car Carrigan was nowhere to be seen but they could hear his steps as he made his way deeper into the alley.

Casino nodded to Chief and jerked his chin over his shoulder. "I can handle him. Get goin!" but his knees nearly buckled when most of Garrison's weight shifted onto his shoulders.

Chief dove down the alley. They'd checked it. They knew it was a dead end, but this was Carrigan's turf. He wouldn't trap himself… there must be another way out.

Casino staggered towards the car. Garrison wasn't completely out, he was still mumbling threats and curses under his breath in German. His feet didn't work very well and his legs didn't want to take much of his weight. They were just about at the car when a helpful soldier appeared in the mouth of the alley near the vehicle. After sharing one frowning look between the car that sat, motor running, doors open, and them struggling towards it he moved quickly in their direction.

"Was ist falsch? Tun Sie benötigen Hilfe?"

Casino wracked his brain for the words he wanted. "Zu viel Bier," he said, and was grateful for the Warden's tendency to drop into German as the stranger slipped under the Lieutenant's other arm and helped take some of the load. They got Garrison to the car and dumped him in the back but the safe cracker could only shrug and smile as their Good Samaritan continued to jabbered away for a moment before landing a friendly blow on his shoulder and heading off to wherever he was going. Casino kept a wary eye on the guy's back and was ready to smile and wave when he turned back for a final salute.

Ducking in the back of the car he shook his commander by the shoulder, "Warden? Hey!" and caught the fist that flailed out at him. "Jeeze! Knock that off will ya! I'm one a the good guys. What's wrong with you?"

"Drogen." Garrison mumbled as he tried to focus on his surroundings. "Lassen Sie mich, Gottfluch es!"

Casino could hear Chief in the alley behind him and didn't bother to turn around when the kid moved around the vehicle and headed for the driver's seat. Crawling into the back of the car with Garrison and slamming the door he waited.

"He tell you anything?"

"Nothin' I could understand. What about Carrigan?"

He slid under the wheel and jerked the door closed. "I lost him." The scout said with disgust. "He climbed out down there at the end. No tellin' which way he went from there."

g

"What happened!?" Actor moved back out of the doorway as the others brought Garrison into the suite.

The pair dumped their commander on the sofa that sat in the middle of the room. "That Carrigan guy said he had too much to drink"

"That's not very likely" There was a slight odor of beer, certainly not enough to cause this type of reaction. Actor caught Garrison's head and checked his eyes, then stood for a moment with his fingers resting along the side of his throat before he frowned, he quickly checked for any sign of injury. "He must have been drugged." The con man turned on the pair. "Tell me what happened."

"We watched from the car like we were s'pose to." Casino said. "Him and that Carrigan met up on the street and acted like long lost brothers or somethin'. Soon as they finished up poundin' each others back they disappeared into a little boozer."

"That wasn't the plan." The group's second in command shot a look of disbelief at his two teammates. "They were supposed to come right back to the car."

Casino planted his fists on his hips and stared at the con man a moment. "And just what were we gonna do when they didn't stick to the script?"

Chief turned back from the window where he'd been watching the street. "I went over and took a look in the place, Actor. All they were doin' was sittin' in a booth talkin'. The Warden waved me off."

"See!" Casino rounded on their Italian second-in-command. "So all we could do was sit in the car and wait."

"When they come out we thought it was an act." Chief explained.

"When they staggered down an alley instead a over to the car we pulled around to pick 'em up before the Warden here could get himself rolled." The safe cracker finished.

"What about Carrigan?"

"Soon as we had our hands full of Lieutenant he took off."

A quiet knock on the door brought them all to their feet.

"Yeah, well we might have another little problem." Casino's understatement was delivered in a hoarse whisper.

The questioning look the con man threw at them had more than a little threat behind it. Chief stepped in close and murmured. "The guy at the desk was asking all kind a questions."

"What did you tell him?"

"I hope I said 'no thanks just get outta the way'," Casino shoved his hand through his hair and shrugged helplessly at Actor's frown "But who the hell knows."

The next knock was a little more insistent. Actor waved the three men into the other room and stepped to the door and opened it on the fawning little ferret of a man who had checked them into the room when they'd arrived three days ago.

"Ist der Kapitän krank? Soll ich für einen Doktor senden?" The clerk asked as he craned his neck to get a look inside the room.

Actor continued to block the man by keeping his hand on the doorknob when he turned to consider Garrison as he lay sprawled on the sofa. "Nein. Getrunken!" he said with disgust. "Senden Sie herauf schwarzen Kaffee und Eis."

Without waiting for an acknowledgement he shut the door in the man's face and turned back to the room. The door to the bedroom cracked opened and Goniff slipped through and headed for the sofa where Garrison lay, still mumbling to himself.

"What d'we do now, then?"

Actor beckoned the others back into the main room. He picked up his cap and gloves from the table that sat just inside the door. "You three stay here with the Warden. I'll go over to the office where Carrigan works and see if he's gone back there."

"Jeeze! Nothin' doin'! Somebody knocks on that door and we're dead meat! I run outta gas after Yes, No, Gimme a beer, and Where's the john!" Casino glanced back at the sofa where Goniff was having a minor skirmish with the Warden, trying to keep him still and trying to talk him back into using English again. He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Besides he's already tried to give me a black eye twice. It's your turn to deal with him!"

Actor rubbed at his eyes a moment. The safe cracker was right, of course. He'd already done remarkably well just getting Garrison through the lobby, he couldn't be expected to pull off answering any questions when the desk clerk brought the coffee back up to the room. Dropping his cap back on the table he turned back to face the three men. "All right you and Chief will have to go." He caught the look that passed between the two men and found himself fighting a strong urge to give them their heads knowing that they would gladly eliminate the agent without a second thought. "But just watch him!"

g

The ice and coffee arrived right after Casino and Chief left the room. Leaving Actor to deal with the terminally curious desk clerk Goniff did his best to get some coffee into the Warden. He didn't have much luck, he couldn't risk trying to talk him into it, not with the smarmy little clerk still standing in the door with his ears stretched and his eyes bugged out taking it all in. Narrowly avoiding a splash of hot coffee the little cat burglar decided to switch tactics and concentrate on the ice. As soon as he applied a load wrapped in one of the napkins to the back of Garrison's neck a flow of cursing erupted from the Warden that was enough to cause the little man to blush even though he didn't understand much of what was being said. Actor managed to push the clerk out into the hallway and slam the door on him and finally came to his aid.

With the door closed the little pick pocket could risk speaking out, but he leaned in close and still kept his voice low, barely above a whisper. "Warden?"

"Damn it!" Garrison growled, finally finding his English. "What are you still doing here?"

"Blimey! It's me, Goniff. I'm s'posed t'be here, remember?" He only spent a split second being insulted before he caught sight of the Warden's eyes…

Garrison struggled to focus on the two figures in front of him but his eyes stubbornly refused to cooperate. He barely mastered his tongue to ask, "Where's Carrigan?"

"He got away." His second told him calmly. "Chief and Casino have gone to check at his office." He was ready for the Warden, as soon as he tried to roll up into a sitting position Actor just added a little pressure on his shoulder and used the Lieutenant's momentum to knock him over again.

Goniff turned and picked up the coffee for another try but Actor'd put out his hand to hold him back. "Don't bother."

"What d'we do now?"

Actor looked down on their unconscious commander and shrugged. "The only thing we can do I'm afraid….We must just let him sleep it off."

g

They took a chance. They watched Carrigan leave his office right on time, just like he'd done for the last three days. They followed him as he made his way home, and then they sat there and watched til well after dark. He didn't make a move to leave the apartment, the shades were already down when the guy walked in the front door. Lights, barely discernible behind the blackout curtains, went on and off just like you'd expect, until ten when everything went dark, again, just like it had for the last three days. Chief took the car and headed back for the hotel leaving Casino on guard at the flat. They figured that if the guy left they wouldn't be able to stop him, they couldn't follow along, and those were his orders anyway, right,… to leave? If he'd turned traitor and found some way to report his encounter with Garrison, that would have been done from work…. They hadn't seen anything that looked like a search party being dispatched from the building.

They'd settled on a simple coded knock and Chief used it before he slipped in the door. Only two sets of eyes met him when he entered. The Warden was out of it on the couch where they'd dumped him.

"What happened?"

"Nothin'. Absolutely nothin'."

Actor waited for Chief to deliver a more precise report.

"We spotted him through the window at his office and tried to keep him in sight from outside." He didn't need to explain how foolish it would have been for either one of them to go inside. "Far as we could see he just did his job, man, just like normal. When he come out at the end of his shift we tailed him and he went right straight home." That had been a little different from the last three days. Carrigan usually stopped for his meal on the way.

"We hung around and watched the place for a while and it was just like at the office. The lights went on and off just like regular and when they all went out and nothin' happened for another hour I beat it back here."

Actor considered him for a moment. They couldn't have done any different. There would have been little sense in them both staying at the apartment. If Carrigan had bolted they wouldn't have been able to follow him, there would have been no way to get word back of what was going on. But they'd still needed to keep him under observation.

"What d' we do now, then?"

"We keep up the surveillance on Carrigan." The con man decided. "And we wait for the Warden to wake up, and we let him make the decision as to what happens next."

The group's second story man studied their commander a moment before turning a hopeful grin on the others. "What'd you think the chances are that we just get to pack it in and go back to England?"

Actor laughed. "Goniff, if you believe in that possibility you are more of a fool than I thought!"

Chief turned to consider Garrison where he lay on the sofa. He was out now, and if they wanted to just go back to England the only way they'd pull it off was to take advange of his condition and haul him back before he woke up. That wouldn't make things any safer for them, he thought, because they'd have to deal with him once he came to his senses again and realized what they'd done.... "I don't think I'd wanna be in Carrigan's shoes when the Warden gets back on his feet."


	4. Chapter 4

gggggggggg

"How do you feel?" He'd been dozing nearby and heard when Garrison groaned and pushed himself upright on the sofa.

"I think the back of my head's about to come off." He sat with his eyes closed rubbing at the back of his neck and head where the pounding was the worst.

Actor poured the coffee and slid the cup along the low table towards the Warden. The con man turned and considered the food he'd ordered up to the room earlier in the evening and decided it was probably a little too soon for that.

Garrison squinted his eyes open and picked up the cup in both hands, the one handed grip he'd tried first wasn't too steady. "How long?" He knew he'd been off his feet but he had no concept of how long he'd been out of action.

"Almost twelve hours."

"Damn." Even the sound of his own quiet voice caused him to wince. His ears felt like they were about to come off and even the dim light of the room created a separate headache right behind his eyes but he risked a squinted survey anyway. "Where are they?"

"They're keeping watch on Carrigan."

"All of them?"

"No. They've been rotating every two hours. Casino's back with us now but he's in the other room asleep." Actor studied the man sitting slumped against the arm of the sofa. He knew his suggestion had little chance of being followed but he made it anyway. "The drug's effects haven't completely worn off. I believe it would help if you tried to get some more sleep as well."

Craig shook his head and was instantly sorry for it. It took a moment for the room to settle around him and if Actor hadn't relieved him of the fragile coffee cup it would have shattered in his grip. When it seemed safe to do it, he raised his eyebrows and pulled his eyes open again. "Get him up."

Casino hadn't really been asleep anymore anyway. As soon as it seemed like Carrigan was finally in for good they'd decided someone should come back and check in figuring the Warden would want an update, if he was in any shape to get one. Chief had rotated back on that first leg, and it hadn't been much of a surprise when Goniff showed up to take his place. They sat around in the dark for another two hours before the safecracker's shot at a little rest came around and he took the car and headed back to the hotel. He handed over the keys to the group's scout and made himself a meal off the cold supper Actor had ordered up to the room before heading for one of the beds to sack out. The first hour or so he'd been dead to the world but after that some instinct told him that he'd be getting a call sooner rather than later. As soon as Actor opened the door he rolled off the bed and headed for him.

"He finally awake?"

"Almost."

"Is he gonna be alright?"

Actor studied the safe cracker a moment. Casino had a hard exterior, and to most that met him came off as self centered and abrupt, but over the time they'd worked together he'd revealed himself to be extremely loyal to the group and protective of his teammates. The con man gave him a quick, reassuring smile. "There shouldn't be any lasting effects."

Casino accepted Actor's evaluation with a curt nod and moved out into the main room and studied their commander for a moment. He looked like he'd been on a first class bender and was paying for it now. "All the pain with none a the pleasure, eh, Warden?" The way the guy's eyes slammed shut you'd a thought he'd just shinned a bright light on him rather than just asked a question.

"It would be kinder," Actor advised as he moved past, "if you kept your voice down."

The east coast con chuckled as he made his way over and threw himself down on the couch. The jolt that his action sent through the furniture had the same effect as his voice and he had to wait a moment before Garrison managed to crank his eyes open again.

"How ya feelin', Warden?"

"Just wonderful."

"That nut could a got you killed, y' know?"

"That will be one of the first topics we cover when I catch up to him."

"I know you'r not stupid enough to drink with a guy like that. How'd you figure he got to you?" He took a good look at the Warden's eyes, they were blood shot and still slightly out of focus. "Or do you even remember meetin' with him?"

"I remember!" Garrison bristled, then winced and backed down. "Some of it anyway." He replayed what he could dredge up of the meeting. "It had to be in the food."

"That means he had an accomplice!" And he'd let them spend all this time just sitting around the hotel room! He'd allowed the group to split up and now the other two were probably already in the basement of Gestapo headquarters! Actor pushed to his feet and made it halfway to the door before his common sense caught up with him. If Carrigan had an accomplice, and if they'd been followed back to the hotel, surely some move would already have been made to pick them up. He covered his lapse by fishing the ice that was left in the bucket out onto a towel, wrapping it into a packet he walked back to the sofa and handed it over to the Warden.

Craig pressed the cold pack to the back of his neck and tried to organize his thoughts. "I don't see how." Scenes from his meeting with Carrigan at the café were sorting themselves out and slowly falling into place. "If he was signaling someone he was pretty damned subtle about it." He remembered the waiters coming and going,…He remembered his untouched mug of beer sitting by his hand. He remembered Carrigan talking to the barman when he went to refill the… And then the last piece dropped into it's slot. "I'm going to kill that guy!"

Casino snorted a laugh. "So? You manage to remember what happened?"

There was a quiet rhythmic tap at the door before Casino could get his answer and Goniff slid into the room. He headed for the sofa and the Warden,…with a detour past the table that held the cold cuts.

"Hey Warden! How ya doin', mate?" The little Brit asked as he tossed the car keys to Casino, flopped into a seat across from their commander, and proceeded to stuff his mouth with the bread he'd folded around the meat from the bounty on the table.

"Hey Goniff, what d' you call it when they slip the mick in your food?"

"Close on t' floggin' a dead horse, mate…." Goniff shuddered as he continued to chew. "That stuff'd taste terrible!"

Garrison slouched further down on the sofa, leaning back against the ice pack he laid his arm gingerly over his eyes to block the light. "The mustard… He must have put it in that damned mustard." But that couldn't be right, Carrigan had eaten some of that himself… Not after he'd gotten a fresh supply from the crock at the bar! Garrison pushed up to sit forward resting his elbows on his knees. It still seemed like his brain was trying to pound its way out of his head through his ears, his stomach was threatening to go into reverse and now he felt like a complete fool.

Actor smiled, he knew what their leader was probably thinking. "Don't be so hard on yourself. He _is_ supposed to be on our side isn't he? How could you know he would try something like this?"

Garrison tried to look like he accepted the absolution. "We've got a problem."

"Jeeze! Another one?!" Casino laughed.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Seems he got himself married while he was over here and he isn't going to leave without his wife."

"Wife?! Blimey! We watched the place for days! 'Ow'd we miss somethin' big as a wife, then?" Goniff asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

Craig cringed at the sound of the pick pocket's raised voice. "How the Hell should I know?!" Garrison paid for his own outburst and slapped the ice pack on the back of his neck again. "Maybe she was off visiting somewhere…."

Casino snorted. "Swell! Just tell the dame to get her bags packed and let's get the hell on the road."

Actor saved the Warden the trouble of an answer. "I would assume if it was that simple, Casino, Carrigan would have withdrawn when he first received his orders."

"She doesn't know he's an agent." Craig thought back, he was starting to fog out about then but he clearly remember Carrigan telling him that.

"What?!"

Garrison winced and his headache spiked at the combined sound of Casino and Goniff voicing the same question. "You heard me. He didn't bother to tell her that he works for the Allies. That's why he's ignored the order to get out."

"So much for baring your soul for true love." The east coast thief turned his palms up and said to no one in particular.

Goniff stuck to more practical matters. "Uh, so how'r we gonna get him to go, then?"

Garrison considered the problem. He didn't think they'd have much luck taking Carrigan out against his will and, even though he'd been given the order, he didn't think he could bring himself to kill one of their own agents…not without absolute proof that there was no other way… Of course if he gave himself enough time to consider what Carrigan had done to him, he thought, he might change his mind. "We're going to go into the kidnapping business."

"You mean just throw a bag over him and haul him back with us?"

"We're bagging both of them." Garrison laid the ice pack he'd been pressing to the back of his neck aside and pushed onto his feet to try his rubbery knees on a trip around the room.

"Warden, you gotta be kidding. Drag a screaming dame across Germany?" Casino watched their commander weave his way around the room. "She'll give us away five minutes after we put the snatch on her. Why not just leave her behind?"

"And have Carrigan fighting to get away from us every step of the way?" Garrison shook his head and had to reach out and grab the back of one of the chairs to stay on his feet. "Besides she won't give us any trouble…. Not if we're threatening her husband she won't."

"What do you have in mind?" Actor got to his feet to go to the Warden's aid but he'd been waved off. He stepped back as ordered but followed along as Garrison made his way overhand along the furniture backs to reach the sofa again.

"We'll split into two groups and we'll take them out separately."

The con man poured another cup of coffee, the warming candle under the carafe had gone out and it was cold and had a slightly oily sheen on the surface. He wondered if it would help clear the Warden's head or finally turn his stomach for him. "You mean to control each of them by using threats against the other?"

"I don't see that I have any other choice." Garrison's face contorted in a scowl when he took a swallow of the cold brew and he held himself very still for a moment as he waited for his stomach to revolt…when it didn't he took another pull. As bad as it tasted, as awful as it made him feel, the caffeine in the cup was making his thoughts come a little faster. "Actor, he doesn't know you, you'll take Casino and Chief and pick Carrigan up at his office if he keeps to his schedule. Goniff and I will go after his wife."

"I don't get it. Why'nt we just go pick 'em both up now?" Goniff sat chewing on his third sandwich and waited on the answer.

"Huh uh. It will be easier if we can keep them separate so they'll cooperate." He still felt lousy but at least the fog was starting to burn off. "We'll need another car… and we'll follow the same route. I'm afraid you gentlemen will have to find a spot in the woods near the safe house when we stop for the night."

"Oh sure." Now that Garrison seemed to be getting back to normal Casino dropped into his usual grouchy manner. "Can't have the little lady roughing it now can we?"

g

Chief continued to watch the apartment but he was getting more concerned as time ticked by. It didn't take that long to get back to the hotel and Goniff had been gone a long time, Casino should have been back fifteen minutes ago… Carrigan could have sent a report out on his encounter with the Warden after all… He could have found out where they were staying somehow… Someone could have been tailing him, someone they didn't see, and they could have made a move on the hotel room where the others were hold up… That slimy little desk clerk could a made a call of his own after they hauled Garrison back. Every possibility that occurred to him was worse than the one that went before. He'd just decided to leave his post and go back and check when the car finally pulled up in the alley behind him. He turned back to study the house, using the time to let his irritation and fear boil away but it wasn't quite gone when he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he jerked around he was facing Actor, not Casino… before the question formed on his lips he was getting his orders.

"I'll take over. The Warden wants to see you."

The young man frowned back at the car then up at their second a moment before shoving to his feet and heading back to the vehicle. The door swung open just as he reached the car and Casino stepped out, ushering him into the back seat with a bow. Goniff grinned at him from the front seat and handed over a roll stuffed with meat.

"Chief, I need you to find us another car…. This is what we're going to do."


	5. Chapter 5

gggggggggg

To the little cat burglar's critical eye Garrison still didn't look like he was doin' too good, no matter if he claimed to be 'fine'. When he moved his eyes it looked like one was draggin' the other along, and havin' a hard time keepin' up too.

"Uh… I'll drive, Warden." Goniff suggested.

"No. I'll do it." When he turned for the car Chief provided the Lieutenant lost his balance and tipped a little to the left.

Goniff reached out and caught at Garrison's elbow to get him back on track. "Really! I think I better do it. Officers don't drive anyway." the little man shrugged. "So I'll, uh,…I'll do it." And it wouldn't do to run up a lamppost somewhere, he thought, but he kept that opinion strictly to hisself. He held his breath and waited to see if the fight was won or if there'd be another round.

He expected arguments from Casino, but Goniff?! Craig swung around to tell his second story man to stop wasting time and get in the car and suddenly the street tipped under his feet and for a second he was looking at two blurry cat burglars instead of one….He reached out and caught the arm the little Brit offered. "Goniff,... maybe you better drive."

g

They waited on the street outside the apartment. Actor and the others were parked in the alley in back. The plan was to see if Carrigan kept to his schedule. If he did Actor and the others would pick him up at his office while he and Goniff took his wife from the apartment. If he didn't they'd go in, in force, and remove both of them. The SS uniforms they wore would be all the reason they needed where ever it went down.

Garrison checked his watch as the door to the building opened and Carrigan stepped out. "Right on time."

Goniff let their target move off down the block before he pulled away from the curb. Chief turned their car onto the street and fell in behind when they drove past the alley. There was enough traffic on the road to cover their movements, but as they watched, Carrigan just continued to his office without even looking back over his shoulder.

g

Picking Carrigan up had been simple, but Garrison and Goniff still watched from their car outside his office just in case the others needed back up. Actor, dressed in an SS major's uniform, stalked to the desk where the agent was quietly going about his work and ordered him on his feet. When Carrigan started to object, to demand the reason, the con man leaned his fists on the desk and brought his face close to the younger man in a threatening manner. Dropping his voice he informed him quietly that his wife was already in custody and headed to Berlin for questioning and the affect was instantaneous.

Carrigan never took his eyes from Actor's face as he gathered the files he'd been working on and slid them into the bottom drawer of his desk. He locked the desk and laid the key on top, in the exact center, before pushing to his feet. There were two uniformed guards with the major and when he could drag his eyes away from the officer he locked them onto the backs of the two men as they led him out of the building. He never said a word to any of the people they passed, never called out for help to the men he'd worked with for the last two years… and, as they continued with their work, they studiously avoided appearing interested in his plight.

There was a car parked at the curb in front of the building. The two guards entered the front seat, Carrigan pulled the door open and climbed in the back followed by the major. As soon as the door closed the car pulled out into the light traffic that was on the road. Jeffrey glanced over his shoulder once then leaned into the corner and closed his eyes. Garrison was right, someone had been watching him after all.

Carrigan weighed his options. As he saw it there were only two. He could throw himself from the car and try to get away… He'd be caught, of course, or killed on the spot, and his wife would be executed for consorting with him. Or he could go with these men, confess his crimes, and do all in his power to convince them that she was totally innocent of all wrong doing… that he'd tricked her, that she'd never known about his secret life. There wasn't a choice, he knew without thinking what he would do. The only stray thought he had before he turned his mind to how he would accomplish his task, was to hope that Garrison still had him under surveillance, and that he would be able to warn the few contacts he had so they could get out of the area before he spilled his guts to save Marlena.

g

Goniff followed the other car for a few blocks just to make sure Carrigan didn't try anything but as soon as they reached the highway Garrison had the second story man break off. They carefully made the short drive back through town to the apartment the couple shared. Actor had ordered a thermos of black coffee from the hotel before they left and while the pick pocket drove Garrison drained it. By the time they reached the apartment he was jittery from all the caffeine but the effects of the drug were finally gone. They slid to a stop in front the building and quietly made their way down the side and around to the back. After making sure the way was clear the Lieutenant cut the phone lines while Goniff set about getting them through the window that opened onto the alley in the back of the unit. Less than three minutes later they were standing in the dimly lit bedroom listening to her as she went about her morning routine in the other room. The clatter of dishes told them she was in the kitchen. Moving silently through the door and down the hall towards the noise the Warden approached from directly behind her as she worked.

Placing a hand over her mouth and pulling her back against him he told her quietly, "Wir haben Ihren Ehemann. Ruhig gekommen oder er wird getötet. Verstehen Sie mich?"

Even though she nodded her agreement he kept her held tightly against him as he turned her away from the sink and headed her back to the bedroom.

The cat burglar was waiting in the darkness of the hallway and stared at her a moment before glancing up at Garrison. "Uh… Warden. We, we, uh, got another little problem here."

Her heart stopped when she heard the English… She knew Ernst was involved in something more than he told her, she had prayed that it wouldn't be something that would bring them unwanted attention from anyone. Her initial fear on seeing the uniform of the SS turned to terror when she heard the other man speak in English. What could the Allies or the underground possibly want with him? Jerking out of her captor's grasp she turned to face him. "Who are you? What do you want with my husband?"

"You don't need to know any of that." Garrison was startled by the English but turned her back towards the bedroom and propelled her past the stuttering pick pocket "All you need to know is that we have him, and if you want another chance to see him again, you'll have to cooperate with us. You have five minutes to gather what you think you'll need and then we're leaving."

Goniff continued to stare as he trailed the two into the bedroom. "But, Blimey, Warden, we can't just…"

"Shut up Goniff! The plan's already in motion, we can't get out of it now." Garrison ran an worried hand through his hair as he watched her go through her things and throw them into the case they'd already found and laid open on the bed for her.

g

They took her right out the front door and down the steps of the apartment building to a car where it waited on the street. If any of her neighbors saw what was happening to her they didn't bother to come to her aid. They didn't even open their doors to ask what was going on. She couldn't blame them, it wasn't safe to question the SS and even if she found the courage and tried to denounce these men she was sure she wouldn't be believed, and she wouldn't risk it. She wouldn't risk her husbands life.

She huddled in the back seat of the car and stared straight ahead. The city was far behind them now but she was blind to the countryside that rolled past on either side of the car. After the first few minutes, when the only answer she got to her desperate questions was that she was being taken to her husband, she'd fallen silent, turning in on herself. Her mind raced as possibilities, each one more terrible than the last, caught at her heart and imagination.

She knew Ernst was working in a department that handled sensitive information. He had never told her, but one of his few friends from work was married and his wife had talked during a rare luncheon they shared together while the men worked. That's when her nightmares had started. Even though she did her best to keep them from him he knew something was wrong. She lied to him, telling him over and over that the bad dreams were about her parents death and had nothing to do with the life they shared. Now their life together would be used against him. She would be used to make him reveal information to these men. What other reason would they have for taking her?

She pushed herself deeper into the corner, further away from her captor. Turning she stared at the trees as they flashed by. She could throw herself from the car. She could take the weapon she would become away from these men so they couldn't force her husband to disgrace himself… But she couldn't do it, she couldn't give up on life so easily, she didn't have the strength. She could only watch the trees as they fled by while she silently begged for his forgiveness.

Garrison watched the women. She seemed… well, fragile to him. He hoped she wouldn't do anything foolish, and he also hoped he hadn't done something he was going to regret later.

g

Actor considered the young man sitting next to him in the car. He was a fool for letting himself become involved with a woman, of course. The relationship left him open to just this type of attack. He could see the conflict in the man's eyes and knew he was struggling with his loyalties, he could also see that his concern for his wife would win out in the end. The movement of the vehicle and the initial shock of his 'arrest' had been enough to keep Carrigan in the car without any trouble but he was beginning to come out of himself now and it wouldn't be long before he realized they were not stopped on one of the main roads to Berlin.

Actor slipped the cuffs out of the bag that sat on the floor at his feet and secured the young man before he stepped out of the vehicle. He took a moment to stretch and then he headed to the front of the car where Casino stood leaning against the fender. Sliding a cigarette from the case he kept in his pocket he brought it to his lips and waited for the safe cracker to light it for him. He was an SS Major, it was expected.

Casino rolled his eyes but reached for his pocket and flicked the flame to life letting the con man play out his part. He continued to survey the woods that lined the road. "What's takin' him?"

"It hasn't been that long." Actor leaned back against the car next to his teammate and checked his watch. "He should be back any moment." As if on cue there was a rustle to their right and the group's scout made his appearance.

Chief studied the two men lounging casually against the front of the car as he made his way to them. They wouldn't be so comfortable when they heard what he had to report. "They got into the safe house alright, but there's a problem."

"What… another one?" Casino snorted. Seemed like he'd heard that before.

"Carrigan's wife… She's pregnant…" The group's scout held their eyes for a long moment. "Very pregnant."

"Jeeze! That's just beautiful!" Casino leaned back against the car and was extremely glad he was not in charge. "So, what d' you want to do now, Actor?"

Actor took a last deep drag from the cigarette before he flicked it away from him. Walking back to the car the con artist slipped the keys to the handcuffs from his pocket and finally addressed their captive in English as he released him. "Sergeant Carrigan your wife is being held less than a quarter mile from here. I suggest that your best course of action now is to cooperate with us."

Carrigan rubbed at his wrists and eyed the man towering over him. "I don't have much of a choice do I?"

"No, you don't." Actor conceded, "But if you give me your word not to try and get away at least we can reunite you with your wife." The plan had been to keep the two separate but he could see little sense in that now.

"You're part of Garrison's group aren't you?" He thought the two soldiers who so silently did this SS Major's biding looked familiar but they had helmets on and kept their backs to him most of the time… and he'd been too worried about his wife to give them much thought. Carrigan shoved out of the car and pounded his threat out on Actor's chest with a stiffened finger. "You tell that guy if anything happens to her or the baby I'm going to kill him!"

"I'm sure the Warden's already figured that one out for himself." Casino pushed back onto his feet and eyed the storm clouds that were boiling over head as he climbed into the back of the car. "At least we get to sleep with a roof over our heads tonight."


	6. Chapter 6

gggggggggg

Garrison leaned against the wall and continued to stare out the window. Chief had only been gone a matter of ten minutes, but it seemed like hours. He took a deep breath and turned back to considered the woman sitting at the table with Goniff. She sat pale and silent, her arms wrapped protectively across her swollen belly. In her condition he knew they had to find a way to keep her calm. Unfortunately she hadn't fallen for any of it when he'd tried to assure her that everything would work out just fine. Of course he had to stop short of telling her exactly why they were here, and exactly what they wanted with her husband, and what the future might hold for her. He was going to leave that little shock for Carrigan to deliver.

"Come on." Goniff urged the cup filled with water on her again. "We was three hours gettin' here and you didn't take a thing in the car. That baby a yours'll be wantin' a drink by now." He shoved the cup a little closer to her and then pulled back, clasping his hands in his lap so she wouldn't think he was going to try and touch her. "Go on," he said, softly, "take it." and he relaxed and smiled a little when she finally relented and leaned forward and took up the cup.

"Here they come!" Leaving Goniff to look after the lady Garrison stepped out and met the group as they made their way down the path that led from the area just off the road where the cars were parked. Craig caught Carrigan's arm and brought him to a halt. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would it have made any difference!?" The young man spat out.

Garrison looked away for a moment. "No, it wouldn't… But I might have come up with a different plan."

Pushing his way past and continuing on to the door Carrigan growled over his shoulder. "Well unless you're going to let us go back to our apartment and start over it looks like we're stuck with this one."

Wind whipped the trees and thunder rumbled overhead as Garrison ordered Chief and Casino to go back up and hide the cars while he and Actor made another quick check around the outside of the house. There was no reason for them to have been followed from town. It was unlikely that anyone the man worked with, or anyone from the couple's apartment building, would hazard a call to SS headquarters to find out why they'd picked him up. Still, there were those reports… someone had him under surveillance. The area around the farmhouse was quiet, seemingly deserted. After they made their rounds Garrison set Chief the task of keeping an eye on the place and he, Actor and Casino turned for the house.

ggg

She was sitting at the kitchen table with a man he didn't recognize. Her face was streaked with tears but she didn't appear to have been harmed, her movement wasn't restricted in any way. "Get away from her!" Carrigan shouldered passed Goniff and took her in his arms as she got to her feet. "Wenn er Sie schädigte, ist er bemannt Mann totes!"

"Hush meine Liebe." She said as she melted into his embrace. When they'd taken her from the apartment she didn't think she'd ever see him alive again. "Alles ist gut mit mir, alles ist mit unserem Kind gut. Aber sind Sie nicht in der Gefahr?!"

"Nein, meine Liebeling." Garrison and two of his men had followed him into the farmhouse and he turned on them now, "Get the Hell out of here!

She pushed away from her husband and stared first at him, then at the men standing at the door, then back at him. "Aber Sie sprechen mit ihnen in ihrer eigenen Sprache? Erklären Sie wie dieses sein kann."

"Sergeant Carrigan,... I believe we'll leave you two alone." Garrison motioned Goniff to him and continued to watch the couple from the doorway for a moment before he finally turned on his heel and shepherded his men back outside. They'd have to find shelter from the showers that were drifting through the area elsewhere. From the look of shock and confusion on her face they'd probably be outside a long time.

g

"Ernst, was ist die Bedeutung von diesem?"

"Marlena," he drew her towards the table. "Sitzen unten Sie muss hören mich, bitte."

"Nein, Ernst, nicht mehr." She was relieved to see him, to feel his hands on her again. She'd been so frightened she was sure her heart hadn't even been beating while they were apart… Even though he was unharmed and seemed no more a captive than she was there was something disastrously wrong here. "If you will speak with them in English you will speak it with me also."

"Marlena, bitte!" It took Carrigan a few seconds to process what he'd just heard. "Marlena,… you never told me you could speak English!"

"And it is also something you never mentioned." She withdrew her hand from his and sat gazing at his face. "I believe there are a great many things we may not know about each other, Ernst! …" She studied him a moment. "Ernst?… Is that even your real name?"

"Marlena I'm sorry I never should have gotten you involved in all of this…"

"I believe I am more than just 'involved' now Ernst." She looked from her husband to the door that had just closed on a man she believed was an enemy of Germany… and suddenly her heart twisted in her chest and she thought she knew and she pulled a little further away. "I need to know if you did this just to appear as…"

He couldn't bare to have her even put the accusation into words. "This was not part of the cover! You have got to believe me!"

And his denial was all the confession she needed. She'd know him for more than two years, they'd been married just over eighteen months…and suddenly she realized she knew nothing about him. "Then who are you? Who have I married?"

He took a deep breath… To Hell with the regulations! He'd made his decision in the car to tell anyone anything he had to just to save the lives of this woman and the child she was carrying, he could see no reason to continue to keep his secret from her any longer. "Marlena,... My name is Jeffery Carrigan. I was born in a German community in North Dakota in the states so I grew up speaking German with my mother and her family." Once he got started it all came tumbling out. "In thirty-six I came over for the Olympics, just to help out with the swim teams. When I went home I joined up, … It was kind of obvious what was going to happen. After I got through my training the Army sent me back. My government wanted someone who would be able to fit in and send back information," she was going to hate him for this, and his usefulness as an undercover operator was shot completely to Hell … "I did that."

"So you have been living a lie …. You have lived in Germany as a spy and you made me a part of it…"

"Your part wasn't a lie! You have to believe me." He pleaded with her again. "I shouldn't have gotten involved with you, I shouldn't have continued to see you when I felt the attraction and I sure as Hell shouldn't have fallen in love with you, …But I did. And, ... and I wanted you," he reached out and grasped her hand. "And I wanted children with you so it had to be more than just a love affair. Please Marlena. … You have to trust that."

"Jeffery?, …" she stumbled over the unfamiliar name. "Jeffery I cannot….."

"Marlena there's no choice now. I've been ordered back and the men outside are here to see to it I go. You know about me now, so you have to go too. I wish to God there was some other choice for you but there isn't!" He clutched at the hand she was drawing away from him and held it in both of his, bringing it to his lips he kissed it and held it against his heart. "I promise you that you will be well taken care of. You haven't done anything wrong! I won't allow you to be treated as if you are anything other than an innocent bystander in all of this." He reached out to caress her cheek but she pulled her face away, avoiding his touch.

"Ernst…. Jeffery…, you will allow me to finish." After several long moments of silence she shook her head and pulled her hand from his grasp. "I cannot continue with this deception."

Carrigan's heart stopped. He saw everything he'd ever wanted in the world pulling away from him and his voice broke. "What?"

"I played a part also." she said softly. "When we met,… I was already arranging a way out of Germany. As you say it was obvious to some what was going to happen. I should have gone but I couldn't leave," reaching out she cupped his cheek in her hand. "Not after I met you. Some of my friends helped me stay. I'd already been using a different name, I had all the papers and a job… it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Ernst…. Jeffery, I never meant to deceive you but how could I tell you the truth once we became involved?"

He was stunned. "What truth?" His mind had gone numb and he still couldn't understand.

"Jeffery I cannot be Marlena Hartmann for you." And when he started to protest she turned her hand so her fingers rested over his lips. "I cannot be Marlena Carrigan."

"But…"

"I can only be Rebekka Meier. If this matters too much to you…"

"Meier? … I don't understand. Your family name is Schäfer. Isn't it?"

"My father's name was Meier" she said quietly. "I took another name after he died."

"But,…Why?"

"My father was known to them." She searched his face for the first sign of understanding, for that first sign of rejection. "He,... he was on a special list of people who…people who..."

Jeffrey looked at her with an open-mouthed stare. "He wasn't with the underground?!"

She smiled and shook her head. "No. He was… You see his mother was…"

And then the penny dropped. "You're… You're Jewish? You let me marry you and you never…"

Up until that moment she had been afraid of what his reaction would be, but when she saw the understanding dawn and the relieved smile that came with it she could only smile in return. "How could I tell an officer of the Third Reich that the government considers his wife is a Jewess?

"But you stayed because of me? You could have…"

"…Gotten us both killed." And the reality of what she'd done crashed in around her again and she started to shake.

Jeffery slipped off his chair, knelt in front of her and gathered her into his arms. "But I don't understand. Why didn't you leave when you had the chance?"

"I don't know. I suppose I didn't believe I would have to leave at first." She confessed. "It was allowed when my parents married. There were no laws then…. And outside of a few traditions he kept in memory of his mother we weren't a religious family. I don't believe many of the people we knew were even aware of his background… until my mother died. The church would not allow her to be buried when they found the marriage records. But they accepted her at the Jewish cemetery."

"When was this?"

"Six years ago."

Six years, he thought. She's been at this as longer than I have!

"The neighbors were shocked when we buried her but even then I never felt a change in how they treated us. When my father died the following year I buried him next to my mother, and I thought that was the end of it." Rebekka shook her head against her husbands chest, remembering. "I was wrong. Things were changing and they had created laws about how we should live, who we should marry, and what kind of people we were because of our families. Even then I could have stayed, but when they said I would have to take an oath… denounce him and my grandmother and convert…." She pushed back so she could look up into his face. "I don't know why but I couldn't do it. Both my parents were dead, we had never really practice any religion, there was no one left to hurt… But I couldn't do it.

I found people who were willing to help me and I got ready to leave. I was given a passport with this name, I had work papers that would allow me to travel. Unfortunately there were many people trying to get out of Germany by then and some of them were desperate. The group I was traveling with was stopped on the road by just such a group of desperate people… I was lucky, I managed to get away unharmed, but every thing I had was taken, except the papers and the little bit of money I had hidden in the lining of my coat. I came here and I was fortunate enough to find work. I thought I would just stay long enough to earn my passage out of the country…" she laughed at her foolishness, "but it is so easy to get caught up in everyday things. I had a job, I made friends. "Silliest of all, I liked the flat where I stayed. No one knew….And then I met you. I thought things must work out for us. I was a German woman, you were an officer… our child would be German…. I am afraid I forgot the danger I would bring to you."

Jeffrey folded her into an embrace again. "Those were the reports then."

"What?"

"That's probably why I'm being pulled out. Someone noticed reports being placed in my file but they couldn't get their hands on the file to find out what they were."

Carrigan left her at the table and stepped to the door and pulled it open. The group had given them the time and privacy they needed but now he had to let the man in charge of this mission know what was going on.

"Lieutenant Garrison…" Jeffrey waited for the officer to reach the step just outside, he moved back allowing the man to enter. "I think I know what kind of reports have been going in that file." Carrigan waited for the questions to come but was only met with expectant silence. "They've been going through and systematically documenting the background on the wives and families of the officer corp."

"Why?"

"To find the Jews."


	7. Chapter 7

gggggggggg

"Jeeze! You mean _you_ didn't know _he_ was American,,, and _he_didn't know _you_ were Jewish?!" The explosives expert looked at the young woman in amazement. "I thought you got to know someone _before_ you got married to 'em, not after!"

Garrison glanced up from the table where he was going over the maps with Carrigan and Actor. "Casino, knock it off."

"It is all right Lieutenant." Rebekka smiled across the room and then turned her attention back to the dark haired man who had made the observation. "You don't always take the time to find all of these things out… especially in war. Besides, it started slowly, innocently, enough. When I first met him he wasn't in uniform." She smiled as she remembered. "It was winter and the lake had frozen over. My friends and I went skating and I slipped and fell. Ernst,… Jeffery caught me. We met there several times after that. I didn't know I was going to fall in love with him but when I did…when I first saw him in his uniform...." She looked down at her hands, at the plain gold ring that was on her finger. "Can you understand? I was already in love with him then,… I hoped that it wouldn't matter."

"Well, sister, it might not matter to your husband there, he's one a the good guys, so you got lucky… But it matters to the crackpots that are runnin' this country." Love be damned, only some kind a nut would risk staying in Germany when they could a got out! Especially with somethin' like that hanging over their heads. Marry a guy who put on the uniform of a country that could do the things they were doing?! He'd _never_ understand dames. Casino shot a frown at the rafters as a clap of thunder rattled the dishes in the cupboard and shoved out of his chair. Hooking Goniff by the arm he pulled him up out of his chair and headed for the door. "Come on you lazy little Limey. Let's you and me go get a load a wood in here before it's all too wet to burn."

Rebekka watched the two men leave and after a moment struggled up out of her chair. The child had grown and shifted and it was harder to move these last few days, harder to do anything. She placed both of her hands against the small of her back and leaned back trying to stretch but it did little to soothe the ache that seemed to have settled in her bones. Turning she watched her husband as he sat at the table with the other two men planning their trip out to England.

England! Then on to America where Ernst… where Jeffrey's family still lived. As Ernst Hartmannher husband had been an orphan, alone in the world as she was…It was just the two of them. Three, she thought as she slipped her arms around her belly and took some of the weight off her spine. But now! Now there was a family. Grandparents for the child. Aunts and uncles, cousins. A family home…. A new life. If they could only reach it. She caught her lower lip with her teeth as the muscles in her back went into spasm again and she started to pace, walking out the pain.

She'd been lucky through the pregnancy. No illness, no cravings…. she smiled to herself, except for the cinnamon, no trouble at all until she lifted her case when she'd arrived home on the train yesterday. Pain had twisted in her back then and shot through both her hips. Yesterday, she thought as she continued to wander the room. So much had changed since yesterday it seemed it must be days rather than hours. Sighing as the muscles relaxed again she turned towards the kitchen. If they would be staying she might as well see if there was something in the house to feed all these men. The slight blonde man who sat with her until her husband arrived had already been complaining of his empty stomach.

Carrigan looked up as Marlena… he caught himself,… Rebekka, crossed the room. Reaching out he caught her hand. She looked tired, he thought. She'd been away when Garrison stopped him on the street. He hadn't wanted her to make the trip, but she'd insisted. Word reached her that a friend had died, one she'd grown up with she told him. She argued that she had to go, to be a comfort to her friend's parents if she could and eventually he'd given in. He didn't know until he returned to his office, and one of the clerks told him that she had called when he was out, that she had come back. When he got home at the end of the day she was so tired from the trip, too tired for him to tell her what had happened. Too tired for him to risk her reaction to all he had to tell her, so he'd just stupidly carried on as if nothing had happened. He made himself believe that nothing would change for them, that Garrison would just leave them alone…. She looked so tired… "You should go lie down in the other room and try and rest."

Rebekka let herself be pulled close and she leaned down and kissed the man she'd married. "My love, all I did when I was with Resa's family was rest, and all I did on the train was sit." She smiled at his frown of concern. "What I need now is to be on my feet and to be of some use." She pulled away from him and backed towards the kitchen. "You go back to your plotting and I will see if there is something in these cupboards for us to eat." It took a moment but he soon turned back to the map and the others and she continued on her way.

g

They'd been busy over the maps, occasional thunder rolled across the valley overhead but aside from the rustle of paper it had been silent in the farmhouse, until the door creaked open to let Goniff and Casino back in with the wood. Goniff dropped his load on the hearth and he made it to the kitchen in a few hurried steps. Another clatter and Casino's armful was on the floor and he followed close on the second story man's heels.

"Uh,…. Warden!"

"Mrs. Hartmann… Mrs. Carrigan….Mrs…" The safe cracker gave up trying for the right name. "Ma'am are you alright?!"

The men at the table turned to see the two cons hovering near the young woman as she clung to the counter with her back to the room. Carrigan was on his feet and at her side in an instant. "Marlena…. Rebekka…?"

She reached back for his hand and gripped it as the pain increased. "Ernst….. Jeffery…

Casino shot an amused look at Garrison and Actor who'd joined the crowd around the lady. "This is gonna be confusing!"

"….there's nothing to worry about. I must have strained my back with the suitcase when I came from the train." The pain started to ease a bit and she loosened her grip on the counter to turn and face him but she kept his hand clutched in hers. "That is all it is. That's all. You see, just having you near has made the pain go away."

"Ma'am, are you having any kind of muscle spasms?" Garrison asked.

"Yes."

"Are they constant?…." He had a sinking feeling they wouldn't be.

"No. They come and go. But it is nothing." She insisted and willed the wish into truth with the force of her claim.

Just great! He shared a quick look over her head with Actor. "How often do they come?!"

Rebecca looked into the American's eyes and a single tear rolled down her cheek. "Every ten minutes." This couldn't be happening! Not now.

Jeffery slipped his arms around her. "My God! She's not due for another two weeks… What do we do?"

"Alright. Actor see if that bed in there's in good shape. Goniff there's a trunk in the corner where the blankets are probably stored, take a couple outside and shake them out..." Garrison stooped down so he was looking her right in the eye and laid a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Look, you probably just need to get a little rest…." He knew he was engaging in wishful thinking but the last thing he needed was for her to panic, besides, Carrigan looked like he was about ready to do that for the both of them.

"You're probably right." She dashed the tears from her face with the back of her hand and smiled up at her husband who was hovering over her. "I'll be fine after a little rest…"

g

Casino waited for the door to close on the couple before rounding on their commander. "Well? What d'we do now?!"

Garrison turned on his confidence man and the group's de facto medic. "Actor how long have we got?"

The Italian caught his lower lip between his teeth a moment before he answered. "There's no way of telling. This is her first child."

"But how long does it usually take?" He had to have some sort of an answer so he could make plans.

"Warden, it will take as long as it takes. I believe the average is between ten and twelve hours, but it could be much longer."

"You believe… Don't you know?!" It was unfair and he knew it, but when it came to stuff like this he'd gotten used to relying on his second to have the answers for him.

Actor had just opened his mouth to start on the explanation when there was a cry of "Oh! Ern… Jeffery!" from the other side of the door followed by Carrigan's concerned shout of "Marlena!…. Rebekka are you alright?!"

"Looks like it's not gonna take as long as you think." Casino observed, then he added with a grin. "Those two really need to figure out who they'r talkin' to."

g

At first the pains weren't too bad, and there was time between them to talk about what their lives would be like when they reached America. Jeffrey told her of the family that waited there and of his grandfather's second wife who had left Russia to escape persecution for her religion. He told her how pleased that grandmother would be to welcome her, to have someone to share her traditions with. He also explained about joining the Bund and how he'd talked his brother into doing it too, so his family profile would be more acceptable to the authorities here in Germany. They took the time to plan and dream of their future together as the day wore on, but when things really got rolling Carrigan hadn't lasted long. After the first hour every time the mother-to-be cried out or groaned his knees turned to jelly and he threatened to faint dead away. Because she needed help and they couldn't help her _and _keep an eye on him Garrison and Actor bundled Jeffrey out of the room and into the company of Casino and Goniff. Under their watchful eyes he did his best to wear out the floor as he paced back and forth across the room, all the while berating himself for his cowardice and shortcomings. Each time a sound came from the bedroom he stopped dead in his tracks to listen, when it went quiet again he'd pace, the tempo of his steps quicker, his strides longer. His attention was definitely elsewhere and more than once he'd come close to just running into one of the walls. The first time she cried out like she really meant business he did just what all the expectant fathers in the movies did, his knees gave out on him.

"OK." Casino declared, taking charge. "You need some fresh air."

ggg

Casino looked up when the door opened and Actor stepped out. The con man just leaned back against the door, the hand he held to the side of his face partially covered his left eye.

"What happened to you?"

"She hit me!"

"What!?" He couldn't help the laughter than came along with the question.

"I told her that all the books say that as soon as the baby arrived she would forget about the pain and she hit me!" The confidence man stated with stunned annoyance.

"Blimey!" Goniff stepped across the room and caught their second in command by the arm and steered him to the sink. "C'm 'ere, mate, we better get a cold towel on that." After a vigorous work out on the pump he had a steady flow of cold water and filled a large bowl with it. A little rummaging around in a drawer and he'd found a small soft towel that he dunked, then twisted out and handed over to the still stunned con artist.

The door to the inner room creaked open and they all turned to stare.

Garrison shot a look around the room but didn't see the man he wanted. "Where's Carrigan?"

"Said 'ee couldn't take it no more…" Goniff offered up from the sink where he was hovering over Actor.

"He had to go outside." Casino snorted. "The room wasn't big enough for all the pacin' he was doin'."

"Well get him in back here!" Garrison snapped.

There was no arguing with that tone, all three of them scrambled to do the Warden's bidding. Actor's longer legs got him to the door in front of the other two. He jerked it open but he stopped on the threshold causing a bottle-neck. After a quick survey of the yard he turned to report. "He's gone."

"What!?"

Twisting in the doorway, still blocking the others exit as he held the knob in his hand he confirmed. "I said, Carrigan is gone. There's no sign of Chief either."

"Great! There's supposed to be a guard on this place." At the sound of his increased annoyance all three men were moving again, Actor had to step out of the way before the other two climbed over him in their efforts to get out of the farmhouse. "Casino, take a look around, see if you can find them. Goniff! You've got the first watch. Actor, get back in here."

"But Warden…"

"I said, get back in here." Garrison's voice was quiet but there was no escaping the note of command.

Actor didn't have much choice, before leaving to carry out the Warden's orders his two teammates had obligingly turned him around and shoved him back in the door, slamming it at his back… "I don't believe the lady would be comforted by my…."

"Look! You know more about this than the rest of us."

"But, Warden, that's all theory." He might know what caused children… Caro dio! He might even have caused one or two… "I've only studied the anatomy, the theory and techniques on child birth in books…" But he hadn't completed his studies. He'd never been present at the delivery of anything other than one of his father's horses!

"And that means you're still way ahead of me!" Garrison watched the color drain from the Italian's face and spared him a moment of pity. "Come on Actor… It's a totally natural act…. You just have to make her believe you know what you're doing so she's not scared." But the con man still hadn't made a move. Craig closed the door behind him, stepped into the room and reached a hand to his second's shoulder, pulling the reluctant midwife past him he kept him moving with a shove from behind. "Look, all we have to do is keep her calm and she'll do all the work." As they approached the door he felt increasing resistance. "It's all just a big con job, Actor." He opened the bedroom door and gave the man a final shove. "I promise, you can handle it!" And he pulled the door closed behind them.


	8. Chapter 8

gggggggggg

It didn't take long for him to find the two missing men… they were just on the other side of the small shed that sat next to the house. Chief was standing at the edge of the building where he could still keep and eye on the farmhouse and yard. When Casino stepped up next to him he wrinkled his nose. "Sheeeesh!"

"Yeah." The young man looked up, his mouth lifted in a quick smile. "He lost it when she hollered that last time."

"Jeeze, he's not gonna be much help." He leaned down and tapped Carrigan on the back. "Hey, buddy! You need to get back in there."

"Oh, My God!" Jeffery moaned. "I can't. I… I can't bare to see her like that!" and even though there shouldn't have been anything left he shifted his weight forward onto his hands and continued to empty the contents of his stomach out in the grass.

"Well," Casino shook his head. "I guess I better go back in and tell 'em they'r on their own." The explosives expert turned back for the house only to be halted by Carrigan's feeble call.

"Wait." Jeffery took the hand Chief held out to him and got a death grip on the trim on the corner of the little shed. His legs felt like rubber and his backbone had deserted him but Marlena…. Rebekka needed him.

"That's more like it!" Casino smiled and reached a hand out and watched as the expectant father took a tottery step towards him, about that time another yell reached them from the house and it was all over. Carrigan's eyes rolled back in his head and if Chief hadn't had a good hold on him the guy would have measured his length in the dirt. It took the two of them to get him propped back up against the building with his head hanging down between his knees. "OK, that tears it." And he started off for the house again.

"But I have to do something!" Carrigan mumbled in a pleading voice. "I have to do something for her."

The safe cracker turned again and shared a look with his teammate before he rolled his eyes and dropped into a squat in front of Carrigan. He grabbed a handful of shoulder in each fist and shoved the young man back against the shed. "Look, soon as you feel up to it there's somethin' real important you can do for her." Carrigan just stared at him, waiting. "We gotta keep a patrol on this place. We gotta make sure no one comes anywhere near it while all a this is goin' on."

Jeffery nodded, eager to be of some kind of use. "I can do that."

"I know you can." Casino assured him, but when he turned him lose so he could slip his rifle off his shoulder and hand it over the young man slumped forward again, his head between his knees.

"I just can't go back in… in there…. I can't…"

"Hey, it's OK." Casino laid the rifle at the man's feet and landed a friendly blow on his back as he pushed back up to his feet. "Not everybody's cut out for this kinda stuff."

Chief smiled at him over Carrigan's head. "Guess we'll stay out here."

And Casino snorted a laugh as he turned for the house. "Guess you better." Goniff was just finishing up his first loop of the perimeter as he reached the door and Casino hooked the second story man by the arm and hauled him towards the house. "Well, come on. We better get some water on to boil."

"What about guardin' the place?" The little cockney strained back towards the yard. It wasn't' that he was exactly afraid a being in the house with a woman who was just about to,…to,.. well, you know… But he wasn't exactly eager to go against one a the Warden's orders, especially not with the way he was lookin' when he give it.

"Chief and Carrigan'll see to it." He assured the cat burglar as he continued to tow him towards the farmhouse. " It'll give Daddy there something to do to keep his mind off a things."

Well, Goniff shrugged and turned for the door, that sounded reasonable enough. Chiefy was better at that guarding stuff anyway and he was never one to turn down a bit of comfort, it was dry and warmer inside. "What'd they always want boilin' water for anyway?" He asked and they crossed the threshold. "Ya don't cook the little tyke."

"A course ya don't, ya dope! But they need washin' off and you don't wanna do that with cold water!" Casino hefted a couple a decent sized logs into the stove as the group's second story man got to work on the pump at the sink.

"How come you know so much, then?"

"Like I told ya before, seven kids in the family." And he explained to Goniff's open-mouth stare. "You don't think we had money for a doctor every time, do ya?"

"Well, but you should be in there then, 'stead a the Warden an Actor!"

"Aw, Hell no!" Casino laughed. He'd been home when his Ma had the youngest two… and he'd been old enough to help out a little. And he'd never forget any part of it… but he hadn't been in the room with her! Neither had his Pop, that was something they left to the midwife. He didn't know, and he was pretty damned sure he didn't want to know, anything about what went on on the other side of that closed door and that's just the way he wanted to keep it. "Jeeze! D'you see what she did to him?" Remembering the reddened handprint on the side of Actor's face as he turned from setting the pot Goniff had filled on the fire, to rummaging through the trunk for more clean towels and blankets. "I don't want no part a that."

g

Night had fallen as they waited and they'd spelled Chief for a bit, each of them, but they couldn't get Carrigan to come back inside. The sounds on the other side of the door settled down from urgent to business like in their regularity and each time the expectant mother cried out Casino checked his watch. It was gettin' pretty close now, he thought. He pushed out of his chair to go give Carrigan another pep talk but froze in his tracks when the bedroom door opened.

"Get Carrigan in here."

"Warden, he already said he couldn't…"

"I don't give a damn what he _said_." Garrison growled. "Get him in here!" Shoving his sleeves up he turned back to the room, leaving them to carry out his orders.

Casino shot Goniff a look and jerked his chin towards the front door. "C'mon it's probably gonna take both of us to carry Dad back to the house!"

The safe cracker was wrong. When Carrigan made his about-face at far edge of the clearing that sat at the front of the house and spotted them coming towards him he totally forgot his duty as sentry and fully embraced his position as worried expectant father. He didn't even have his feet pointed in the right direction before he tried to start for the house and managed to trip and go face first in the wet grass. The two cons were by his side before he could scramble back to his feet, and they hoisted him up expecting to support him back inside. He fooled them again and they had a hard time keeping up when he took off across the yard and charged into the house. It was only when he was faced with that closed bedroom door again that his courage seemed to falter. A little judiciously applied help from behind was required.

The room had been fairly quiet, until they shoved Carrigan through the door. After that there was a constant stream of 'OhMyGod!OhMyGod!OhMyGod!OhMyGod!' that only varied in speed and volume… until one last great exhausted groan was followed by a mewling cry and a final wondering. 'Oh, My God!'

It was another twenty minutes before Actor and the Warden came out. Garrison held a bundle of soiled sheets in one hand and was guiding Actor to one of the chairs that sat at the table with the other. Chief had found a box in the shed and Goniff had already dug the hole and took the bundle from the Warden and headed out to dispose of it.

"What's his problem?" Casino continued to watch their con man as the Warden went back into the bedroom and quietly retrieved the large basin they'd used. Garrison went to the sink and dumped it, rinsed it out and filled it with hot water from the pot on the stove before he brought it over to the table. The whole time the Italian just sat staring at his hands.

"He had to turn the baby."

"You'r kidding!"

"No." Garrison stood over Actor and waited for him to make a move, when he didn't he finally took hold of him at the wrist and elbow and directed his right hand into the basin of water to get him started.

He startled at the touch of warm water and looked up, not quite out of his trance. "Did you see that?"

The Warden smiled down at their sophisticated con man who'd momentarily lost every vestige of sophistication. "Yeah, I did."

There was a flash of light at the windows followed by the almost instantaneous crack of thunder and the thrum of rain pounding down on the roof. When the door opened again Goniff came through, closely followed by Chief, both men were shaking the water from their hands and wiping it from their eyes.

Chief glanced from Actor sitting at the table with one hand in a bowl of water to the Warden who still stood over him. "We're in for it. Ain't nobody in his right mind gonna be out in a storm like that."

Craig nodded. There was another flash and crack of thunder and the rain's intensity increased on the roof. If there was a patrol out after them they'd never see them in this weather. It was safer to have all the men inside.

Goniff grinned and slid onto a chair next to Actor. "Well, what'd she have?"

The con man turned still amazed eyes on him. "A baby."

"Blimey!" the little man laughed. "I know that! What kind?"

At the sound of laughter Actor's feet briefly touched the ground again and he tried to gather his usual cool demeanor around him, "Oh, it was a boy." but it didn't last and as he started to wash his hands he grinned around at the men gathered around the table. "It's a little boy!"

ggg

At the bright flash of lightening he brought his hand to his eyes to protect them but he was too late. The image was burned into his vision and all he could see for several moments was the blue ghost of the farmhouse and surrounding area as he strained to keep watch through the darkness. The thunder rolled overhead, echoing off the hillsides that surrounded the house. It seemed with every flash the rain came down a little harder, the wind blew a bit stronger. He was glad of the wool uniform he wore, even though he was nearly soaked through, at least he would stay warm while he was on watch, but he wished for a helmet to protect his head, instead of the cloth cap he had.

The hillside overlooked the farmhouse and gave him a good view of the open area that surrounded it. When the wind was right he could just make out the woman's cries from where he stood. The sound had an effect on the young man pacing in the yard in front of the building. At the first sound he'd stop and turn towards the house. It was easy to see from the way he held his body that he was torn between going to her, and running as far and as fast as he could over the nearest hill. He couldn't seem to muster the nerve to be in the small house, but his courage didn't desert him either, so he was caught in the rain outside where he paced off his anxiety until two came from the farmhouse to help him make his decision to return inside.

He hunched his shoulders and settled further back in the dead tree he'd found. A crack of thunder came with the next flash of lightening. It was loud enough he brought his arm up, instinctively protecting his head. The storm was right on top of them now and the rain came down in sheets. He left his little shelter and moved carefully forward to the edge of the brush that surrounded the clearing where in the past the farmer would have had his chickens and his garden. He could still see the house, and he could still make out the man who remained outside on guard. As the rain increased it became harder to see but he was able to make it out as someone made his way from the house to the edge of the clearing opposite from where he stood watching. After a few minutes work with a shovel the man ducked at the latest flash of lightening before heading back inside followed closely by the guard.

He turned his collar up as the tempo of the rain increased and wedged himself back into his small shelter. Only a fool would be out in this storm…


	9. Chapter 9

gggggggggg

It was nearly midnight when the child was born. The storm raged over head, protecting them from anyone who might have been close enough to hear, or curious enough to wander out in better weather to see who might have been using the old farmhouse. The bad weather provided time enough for the new parents explore the joy and miracle of the child that had been given them. They counted his fingers and toes as all new parents do, and marveled at the intelligence that lurked behind his high forehead and in his beautiful blue eyes. Jeffery held Rebekka as she gave the boy her breast for the first time and shared in her contentment when the baby took hold and started to suckle. The bedroom in the farmhouse was a sanctuary that only the three of them shared.

Garrison gave them as much privacy as he could as he and the others waited out the storm and planned their escape. While he and Actor worked the other men searched the house for anything they thought might be useful, tearing soft towels into diapers and sheets into swaddling clothes. Padding an old basket Chief redesigned it as a cradle... As soon as the storm let up they'd have to be on the road and it was long way to the coast.

"Do you still want Carrigan to go out with us?" Actor asked over the maps they'd been studying.

"No. Actor you and Chief take one car and go on to meet the underground, let them know what's happened. The rest of us will have to take the larger car and go in that." The original plan had been to keep the couple separated until they got to the coast but the plans had changed. Garrison looked up at the men gathered around the table and his mouth lifted in a quick smile. "Carrigan won't go anywhere without those two so we'll keep him with us." He stretched and checked his watch. It was only three hours until dawn and even if the storm continued they'd have to leave or risk missing their pick up. "We've only got a few hours, so you'd better get some sleep if you can."

Chief watched the Warden as he got up from the table and pulled a chair over to the window to settle in to keep watch. "What about you?"

"I'll sleep when we get back to England."

Two hours later Garrison roused Actor and Chief. They'd set off in the first car and make contact with the underground, let them know there'd be two more in the party, giving them enough time to make some special arrangements to get everyone out. The rest of them would wait for another hour before they left and he let Casino and Goniff sleep a little longer. They'd found a secret supply of stale coffee on the shelf over the stove the night before and after he saw the first pair off Craig settled on the chair next to the window and took a pull as he continued to keep watch. Rain was still falling but the storm seemed to be blowing itself out. If it continued like this by the time they reached the coast they might even have good weather for their crossing. That was a mixed blessing. Clear weather meant spotter planes and German patrol boats. He took another pull of the strong brew and decided he'd rather deal with the storm.

ggg

They'd been ordered to watch, nothing more, to watch and follow. They followed their orders and followed the car that held their subject when it left town. There was no time then to report but when the group entered the farmhouse and the storm started in earnest, when it looked like the subject of their orders would be staying, his partner had returned to the car and driven the three hours back into town to let their superiors know. He was to wait here and keep watch. When the first pair left he debated following them, and for a short distance he shadowed their movements, until he realized the one they wanted wasn't with the pair, then he broke off and went back to his hiding place. It worried him as he settled back to his surveillance. They were close enough to the sea that he reasoned the pair were probably going to arrange an escape for the others. If they left before his partner came back there would be no way for him to follow, but he had already determined their subject would not get away. He turned his back on the weakening storm to check his weapon.

He was an excellent shot and he had no doubt about his skill. In good weather and with proper light hitting a target from this distance would be child's play, well within his capabilities, but in the current conditions….. He searched the area closer to the dwelling and decided he would have to move down. There was a small storage building not far from the entrance to the house with a rise just above it that would do. It would afford him some cover and give him a clear shot at anyone attempting to leave the building. The light was building to the east, even through the lingering cloud cover and rain. He waited in his original spot, it was where his partner would expect to find him if,…when he returned, and he wasn't ready to leave the safety it afforded him just yet. He'd watched the house from the time they trailed their quarry to it and the men who guarded it were thorough and competent in their work. Even in the middle of the storm, in the darkest portion of the night someone had made regular checks of the perimeter of the building, never venturing very far but checking on the security of their sanctuary nonetheless. He had no doubt someone would resume the patrols now that the storm was little more than mountain showers.

g

Garrison finished the coffee and pushed out of his chair. Casino and Goniff were still asleep, curled on pallets they'd made on the floor near the fire. He made a quick check out the window and then moved silently across the room dropping into a crouch between the two men. "Rise and shine you two" he said quietly, moving back out of the way and heading towards the sink as the two men rolled out of their blankets.

Goniff scrubbed his hands through his hair leaving it in a more improbable tangle and yawned up at him from where he sat cross legged on the floor. "'S'it morning already? Blimey! Seems like I just got me eyes closed."

Casino was already on his feet and had followed the smell of coffee to the stove. Rattling through the cupboard he came up with another cup and poured himself a dose. Taking a swallow he scowled down into the cup at the bitter brew. "Jeeze! That tastes like somebody burned an old sock!" He dumped the rest of the mug's contents down the drain in disgust. "Warden, you been in England too long!"

Garrison cocked an eyebrow in his safe cracker's direction. "You can try your hand at making some more if you want to, Casino, but the stuff's probably been here since before the war started." He rinsed the cup he had with water from a pitcher on the counter and sat it in the sink. Settling his rifle more securely on his shoulder he turned for the door. "I'm going to take another look around outside. You guys better get ready, we'll be moving out in thirty minutes."

Casino indicated the door to the bedroom with a jerk of his chin. "What about them?"

The Warden turned his hand up and checked the watch at his wrist. "Better get them up." Then he smiled. "It'll probably take them a little longer than usual to get moving this morning." Pulling the door open he took a quick look around before slipping out to make his rounds.

Casino set a new pot of coffee to brew and left Goniff sniffing through the cabinets after something edible and walked across the room to the bedroom door. Taking the knob in his hand he carefully turned it and pushed the door open. For a moment he just stood and looked. Carrigan was sitting propped against the head of the bed, eyes closed, his arms wrapped protectively around his wife. She rested securely in his embrace, her head leaned back against his shoulder, her arms encircling the bundle that rested on her chest. As he watched the bundle shifted as the newborn moved inside. The young woman's eyes opened the moment the child moved and for the first few seconds she was completely absorbed in the infant. Casino cleared his throat and her eyes darted to the door, an instant of panic followed by a warm smile. "I'm sorry Ma'am," he called across to her in a hushed voice. "The Lieutenant says we gotta be movin' out soon." Pulling back and shutting the door he gave the new family their privacy.

g

Craig made his circuit of the building in ever widening circles. The air was clean and fresh after the storm, the wind still gusting stray showers down out of the surrounding trees. The clouds were breaking up to the west allowing shafts of sunlight to paint the sky in the colors of dawn. Roiling storm clouds still threatened to the south but they'd be leaving that behind soon enough. He carefully checked the small barn and storage shed before moving out along the path they would use to get back to the car where it was hidden. The grounds appeared deserted, but he had an uneasy feeling. There was no sign that any one had come close to the house but, there was no sign that Actor and Chief had been on this path less than an hour earlier either, the rain had seen to that. He made one more careful tour of the grounds before heading back inside. The sooner they were out of here the better he'd like it.

"Hey Warden, want a bite a breakfast?" Goniff turned when he heard the door open, he held a pan in one hand and a tin he'd found under the counter in the other.

Garrison lifted the can out of the pick pocket's hand and sat it on the stove between the burners where it gently rocked back and forth. The label had fallen away long ago and both the top and bottom bulged out slightly, the seam that ran along the side was rusted. "Goniff, I'd rather face a German firing squad. I think I'd stand a better chance of coming out alive." Turning his back on the hopeful chef he asked, "Are they ready to go?"

Casino hoisted the woman's small suitcase. "Just about. You want me to take this stuff up to the car?"

"Yeah. Turn the engine over while you're up there. I want to be able to take off as soon as we load everyone up."

The hard boiled con carried the case with him into the corner where he retrieved the basket they'd created, it was filled now with all of the things they deemed might be useful.

"Wait a minute." Garrison motioned towards the basket with the cup he'd fill from the fresh pot of coffee. "Didn't you guys make that to carry the baby?"

Casino lifted the basket and gave it a smiling look. "No one's gonna get that kid out of her arms, Warden. Not yet."

Garrison watched Casino disappear out the door and took a sip from the cup in his hand. An appreciative smile lifted the corner of his mouth. Casino's pot tasted a lot better than the one he'd made. Maybe the safe cracker was right, maybe he had been in England too long.

g

The hinges on the door to the bedroom gave a slight creak as Carrigan slipped into the room. The young man headed for the stove, picked up the mug that was draining on the sink and poured himself a cup of coffee, then headed for the table. He glanced in Garrison's direction and answered the question that was on the man's face. "She's feeding the baby, she'll be out in a little bit."

Craig watched as Carrigan downed his coffee then rested his forearms on the table and gaze at the bedroom door. The amazed and wondering look he'd had last night had quieted down to stunned, with a little more than a touch of fear. He'd open his mouth like he was about to say something, then close it and shake his head only to turn towards him a moment later and repeat the whole process. "Something on your mind you'd like to discuss, Sergeant?"

"No. Well,… It's just that…." Carrigan turned and stared at the door that separated him from his wife and child. "For the rest of my life, Lieutenant…. I have to take care of him for the rest of my life."

Garrison laughed. "Did that just occur to you?!"

Jeffery pushed away from the table and moved over to the counter and poured himself another cup of strong coffee and leaned against the counter. It took a few moments before he could organize his thoughts and feelings. "I guess it's just real now, you know. Before it was just a,.. a possibility… something we dreamed and talked about. And she changed so slowly it was just…. Well it was like she'd always be like that." Then he looked up and smiled. "But last night…"

"Changed everything?"

"Yeah. And fast!" The young man's smile dimmed, "And now I've got to figure out if I have what it takes to be responsible for somebody, for teaching a kid all the things he needs to know to survive in this world." The young man turned and stared at the closed door. "I don't know if I can do it Lieutenant."

They could hear movement behind that door, a moment later it opened and Rebekka entered the room. Garrison looked back at Carrigan. "It's a good thing you don't have to do it alone."

"Do what alone?" Rebekka asked, as she shared a look between the two men.

"Nothing." Jeffrey pushed away from the counter and went to his wife, hovering by her side as he escorted her to the table and saw that she was safely seated there with their son on her lap. "Can I get you anything. Do you want coffee? Are you hungry?"

Goniff had managed to open the can he found but the smell put an end to any hope he had of breakfast. "Nothin' here's fit to eat." he had to tell them. The little man's stomach growled in protest but he was more disappointed that he couldn't offer the new mother something and it showed on his face.

"No. It's alright I don't need anything" She cuddled the infant in one arm and reached out and grasp her husband's hand as she smiled her forgiveness across the room at him. "I have everything I need right here."

"How are you feeling?" Garrison asked as he considered her.

"Fine, Lieutenant." The smile she turned on him lit the room. "How could I be anything other than fine? Where are the others?"

"Casino took your things up to the car. Actor and Chief left a couple of hours ago. They'll make contact with the underground" he smiled at her, "and let them know we have two VIP's along with us. It will give them a chance to arrange for the things you might need for the baby." Craig motioned towards the infant with the mug he still held in his hand. "I don't suppose you packed anything for him?"

"No." Rebekka laughed. "I'm afraid I was a little pre-occupied…"

"I'm sorry for frightening you the way we did. I can't help feeling that what we did caused what you went through last night…"

"Then I have you to thank for that as well. Please, Lieutenant, there is nothing to forgive. You have brought me… a whole new life." And they both knew she was talking about more than just the infant resting in her arms.

Garrison sat his cup on the sink, accepted her forgiveness, and turned for the door. "Well,… I hate to break this up, but we've got to get out of here."

There was little left in the house for them to concern themselves with. Carrigan retrieved Rebekka's coat from the other room and helped her into it while she shifted their child first to one arm, then to the other. He buttoned the top two buttons for her, pulled the collar up around her neck and kissed her on the forehead. Rebekka settled the baby securely on her shoulder and draped the corner of the blanket she'd wrapped him in over him where he nuzzled on her shoulder, covering his head, to protect him from the chill and showers that still lingered outside.

Garrison slipped out the door and made a quick scan of the area before motioning the little group forward.

Even under the circumstances Jeffery didn't realize how much of a cocoon the farm house had become for them and he found himself reluctant to leave. It seemed as soon as the door opened all he could see were the threats that faced them now. The clouds scudding across the sky to make way for the sun, only provided proof of the chill the breeze carried with it. The rain drops that bejeweled the grass and cast sparkling rainbows up at them as they caught the light were only warnings of the slick grass and mud the storm left behind.

The sun was dazzling as it bathed the front of the house. Rebekka raised her hand to shield her eyes as she brought the newborn boy close in a tighter hug. Smiling as her husband placed a steadying hand under her elbow she looked down before stepping onto the first step. Jeffery turned suddenly and stepped back up in front of her, his shadow falling across her face, making it easier for her to see. His hand was still cupping her elbow as he turned to help her.

A rifle shot shattered the morning calm. Goniff reached out, wrapping both his arms around the woman and her baby, he pulled them hard up against him as he scrambled backwards into the safety of the house. Rebekka instinctively curled around the infant, shielding him with her body, and went unresistingly for the first few feet but then her head came up and she screamed for her husband.


	10. Chapter 10

gggggggggg

Garrison dropped into a crouch and squeezed off three quick shots before he turned, hooked Carrigan by the collar of his jacket and towed him into the house. Slamming the door he pulled the young man across the room, up against the far wall and dropped down next to him to access his injury. Carrigan had been hit in the right arm just above the elbow. The bullet appeared to have gone right through…shattering the bone and shearing through the blood vessels. Craig carefully lifted the Jeffery's arm and found an entry wound in his side too but compared to the arm that one appeared minor. The young man was losing blood, fast. He cupped his hands around the sergeant's elbow and applied pressure directly over the wound but blood still pulsed up between his fingers. Garrison pushed back up onto his feet an went to the small kitchen to retrieve a thin towel that lay on the sink, he snatched up a long wooden spoon that Goniff had found in one of the drawers when he was on his quest for breakfast. When he knelt back down beside him Carrigan's eyes were open, but they were glazed.

"Sergeant, we've got to get this bleeding stopped." He carefully slipped the towel around Jeffrey's arm above the injury and double tied it. Sliding the long handle into the knot he started twisting. "Hang on this is going to hurt."

When Carrigan cried out Rebekka struggled to break away from Goniff's arms but he tightened his grip and kept her with him, out of the way so the Warden could finish.

Garrison continued twisting until the bleeding stopped. "Alright, let her go Goniff." Not trusting her English he dropped into German. "Aufenthalt unten. Halten Sie dieses feste. Können Sie ihn tun?

"Ja! Ich kann ihn tun. Ja." She held her son close as she knelt by her husband's side. Dashing her tears from her face she reached out and placed her hand over the tourniquet. "I can do it. Go, Lieutenant. We'll be all right."

The two men moved away from the far wall of the kitchen where they left Carrigan in the care of his wife. It was the safest place in the room but they couldn't stay there.

"Blimey!" Goniff sidled up close and dropped his voice into a whisper. "What d'we do now?"

"Keep low and," Garrison ducked and pulled his pick pocket down with him as the glass in the front window shattered. "Stay away from the windows."

"I wish Chiefy was here." Another shot rang out as the Warden tried to get a look out the opening that had recently been the front window of the farmhouse. The little Brit cocked his head and tried to sort out what he'd heard. "That's the same gun. Maybe there's only one of 'em out there."

"He can still pen us down in here if we let him." Garrison let his eyes roam around the room as he considered his next move. "Damn!"

Goniff followed the Warden's gaze. "That's Casino's!" He hadn't realized until then, until he saw the rifle resting in the corner, that he'd been expecting the east coast con to come roaring back down the path to their rescue.

Garrison scrambled across the room in a crouching run and hooked the rifle from its resting place tossing it to his second story man. "Here, take this. Keep that guy busy. I'll see if I can get out the back and work my way around behind him." The Warden gave the cockney thief a shove towards the front and started through the bedroom but he stopped in the doorway. "Goniff, if you see anyone at the window in back don't wait, just shoot, because it won't be me."

The cat burglar took up his position at the far side of the window opening. He could see out the front and had a clear view of the window in the rear wall of the bedroom. He watched as Garrison checked the grounds behind the house and carefully made his way out and disappeared. He knew it was his job to keep the sniper's interest focused on the house somehow while the Warden searched for him but he had to be careful. Casino was still out there. Even though an image of his teammate sprawled face down next to the car did its best to invaded his imagination he shoved it aside. Casino was still out there somewhere,...He had to be.

Garrison crept along the back wall of the house until he reached the corner of the building. He brought the rifle he carried to his shoulder and waited, relying on Goniff to take some action that would cover his movement. He didn't have to wait long. As soon as he heard the remaining glass being knocked from the window up front he rested the muzzle of the weapon on the corner board of the house and swung into position. Sighting along the barrel of his rifle he searched for any movement that would reveal the sniper's position. He scanned the area for a vantage point that would allow a clear shot at the house without giving the man away… and decided he'd pick a spot up on the rise if he was setting this up. That way he could take his target out and get away quickly without being seen.

The little pickpocket thought breaking the glass out might draw a shot from the bloke outside but he didn't take the bait. Goniff decided to up the stakes. He shot a quick look outside and pulled back out of the window while he made his choice. The best hiding spot out front, he figured, was up next to the little storage shed that sat at the far side of the garden. He took a deep breath and popped up in the corner of the window, took aim and fired, splintering wood off the edge of the shed. Rolling back he rested with the wall to his back and listened to his own shot echo away, and in the following silence all he could hear was the water as it continued to drip off the eaves. He was doing his best to draw the man out, get him to shoot back so he and the Warden could tell where he was hidden… But the bloke was too clever and wouldn't take the bait. He gave it another try, taking a little longer he shifted his aim to the trees that ran along the far side of the barn a little further away. Again the echoes of his own shots were met by continued silence. "C'mon you dirty little blighter!"

A slight movement in the bushes up on the hill above the small barn caught Garrison's eye. There was no sound, no sunlight to glint off the barrel of a rifle to give the man away, but he was sure he was there. Craig moved back so the house was between him and his target. He'd have to make his way into the wooded area that lay behind the house and come around behind.

g

The last thing he remembered before his common sense kicked in again was the sharp crack of rifle fire and a woman's scream tearing through the morning calm. Casino threw the supplies he was carrying at the car and turned, belting back down the path towards the safe house. The only thing that stopped him from just bursting out into the open was his slumbering sense of self preservation. It wasn't until he stopped in the deep shade of the trees that over-arched the path that he remembered he'd left his rifle in the house when he brought the stuff up to the car. Silently cursing himself for a fool he patted through his pockets in a panic and was relieved to find he still had his pistol with him. It wouldn't be much against a rifle but at least he wasn't walking into this mess totally unarmed.

Casino crept step by step down the path towards the house. It was dead silent now but his memory was kicking in again. He was sure there had been at least five or six shots fired, maybe more, but he had no way of knowing where they'd come from or who fired them. Stopping he closed his eyes and did his best to let his ears take over. There! There was something off to the right, he was sure of it.

All he had to guide him was a slight sound of rustling leaves and the metallic murmur of clips sliding against rings that he assumed were attached to the strap that carried a rifle. He inched closer and closer to the sound, finally coming to a halt beside a bramble that separated the forest area from the edge of the clearing that ran along the side of the small storage shed. Casino took a deep breath to steady his nerves, decided against counting to three, and just burst through the brush that hid his target from him. He had less than a split second to get the guy in his sights but he wasn't fast enough. A shot rang out and echoed away in the following silence.

g

Goniff couldn't leave his spot under what once was the front window of the farmhouse. He could get a quick look out the front and then out the back as he shifted his eyes back and forth but he found that made him a little sea sick. He hissed to get the woman's attention. "Hey! Hey… Can you slide over a bit and keep an eye on the back window?" In her fear she couldn't answer him with anything other than a nod of her head but she put her precious bundle down tucking them baby in close next to his father and started scooting towards the door. "Stay low and give us a scream if you see anything, right?" and he turned all of his attention to the area in front of the house. The sound of the shot had definitely come from over by the storage shed, over where he thought he'd seen muzzle flash before. Nothing else was happening out there now, though. He didn't know if it was the Warden or the sniper who just got themselves killed out there…and, blimey!, he couldn't leave his spot, he had to stay to protect that little family huddled behind him in the kitchen.

g

The next thing Casino saw almost stopped his heart. He was looking right down the barrel of a German automatic rifle that was cocked and ready to fire. A finger already squeezed down on the trigger and the eye of the man that held it was locked on his face. Fortunately for him it was the Warden who had him in his sights.

Garrison let out the breath he'd been holding and motioned for Casino to check the body and make sure the guy was really dead. His explosives expert pulled the man over, checked for a pulse then took up his rifle and pushed back onto his feet and silently waited for orders. Dropping his voice low, just above a whisper, the Warden gave them. "It sounded like just the one gun but we better make sure he didn't have a partner." Casino nodded and he started away to start his search, but the Lieutenant reached out and held him back a moment. "Don't go in the back window…" Garrison advised, "don't even go near the back window."

Five long minutes of nerve wracking silence crawled by before Garrison finally called out and Goniff pulled the door open with relief. Casino stayed outside to keep watch while the other two went to see what they could do for the injured agent.

As soon as she heard the Lieutenant call to them and knew it was all clear outside Rebekka edged back to Jeffery. He lay with his eyes closed. She'd tucked the baby close to his side when she had to leave them to keep watch for Goniff and she watched as he repeatedly stoked his fingers gently over the boys face. "Jeffery, Jeffery, können Sie mich hören?" Sliding in so her back rested against the wall she stretched her legs out and took his head in her lap, leaving the infant where he was next to his father. She watched as he continued to memorize the baby's features with his fingers.

When Carrigan found the energy to open his eyes and looked up at her there was a spray of blood across her face, he had no way of knowing it was his own blood. "Are you hurt?!" He asked in a panic. "Is the baby alright?!"

In her fear and concern for him her English deserted her. She didn't understand the words but his question was clearly written in his eyes. "Ja, Ich bin fein! Lüge noch." The binding above the wound had come loose while she acted as a lookout and blood from injury soaked the sleeve of her husbands jacket and stained the floor underneath him. She tried to twist the towel down tight again but the act caused Jeffery to groan in pain shaking her resolve. Her own hands shook as she tried to continue.

Garrison knelt down next to her, reached out and moved the woman's hands away. There was an alarming amount of blood staining the floor under Carrigan and if they were to have any chance of getting him out of here alive he had to control that. He also knew if they continued using the tourniquet there was a good chance Carrigan would lose his arm, if he survived. If they didn't use it the young father had no chance at all, not the way he was bleeding.

"We'll have to keep this in place." He said as he calmly twisted the band down again until the pulsing blood flow stopped.

Craig tucked the end of the spoon and secured it in place before turning his attention to the wound in the young man's side. Pulling the kerchief from his pocket he did his best to staunch the flow from that the injury.

"Lieutenant." Carrigan's voice was weak. "Lieutenant you have to leave me here. Please, you have to get them out!"

"Jeffery bitte," Rebekka soothed. "Bitte, bewegen sich nicht.

Garrison ignored them for the moment, intent instead on a way to secure Carrigan's injured arm when they moved him. Pushing onto his feet he went to the ruined front window and tore the curtains down and started ripping them into strips. Goniff stepped up to help and they soon had the fabric torn and knotted to his satisfaction.

Jeffery lay quietly, his head in Rebekka's lap, his left hand cupping his infant son's face. He smiled when he felt the boy take his finger tip in his mouth and start to suckle. The wound in his side hurt and his arm throbbed with every beat of his heart. He was beginning to feel heavy, like a great weight was pressing him down into the floorboards. Opening his eyes he began to desperately study his wife's face, the way her hair swept off to the side, the way one eyebrow always set in an arch that made her look as if she was just on the verge of laughter, committing it all to memory before his vision faded out to nothing.

Garrison settled in next to the injured man, waving Goniff to the opposite side. He glanced at the woman. "I'm sorry, we have to get him ready now…"

"I can help,… Please." Drying her eyes on the back of her hand she did her best to settle a look of determination on her face.

He smiled at her. "You just look after your son and we'll take care of him."

Goniff lifted the baby off the floor and carefully handed him over to his mother before turning back. "What d'you want me t' do, then?"

"Just prop him up so I can get this wrapped around him."

He tried to be gentle but he couldn't ignore his growing sense of urgency. Garrison turned a deaf ear to Carrigan's moans of pain and set about securing his arm across his belly and wrapping it down to his side, by the time he finished the injured man was barely conscious.

When Casino stepped to the door he startled all of them, and his words did nothing to settled their nerves.

"You guys better get a move on. It sounds like there's a car coming this way!"


	11. Chapter 11

gggggggggg

"Blimey! How'r we gonna get him out a here!?" Goniff scanned the room. The supplies were there, if they just had the time they could knock together a stretcher of some kind,,, but there was no time!

Garrison felt a hand on his arm and looked down. Carrigan was struggling to hold on to consciousness, to plead for his family.

"Lieutenant, please! You have to go. I'm the one they want… Take her. Leave me a gun... I can buy you the time. Get my family out of here!"

Rebekka knew what he was trying to do, even though in her panic she wasn't certain of the words. She reached her own hand out and covered his, where he gripped the American's arm, and when Jeffery turned his gaze on her she told him. "Ich lasse Sie nicht."

"Nein, Rebekka! Nicht tun dies. Gehen Sie bitte!"

But her decision was made and with the decision came a calmness that let her speak to him in his own language again. "I will not go. How can I leave you now?" She held the infant out to the stranger who had been present at his birth. "Take our son." Her voice broke as she held him out. "His name is Joseph."

Garrison pulled his arm free of the young father's weakening grasp and pushed the baby back into his mother's arms. "No one's staying behind," he told them. "Goniff, Casino! Help me get him up." As soon as the men lifted Carrigan off the floor he was out. A good thing, Craig thought, this wasn't going to be a comfortable trip for him. He slipped his shoulder down and lifted the young man off the floor, settling him securely on his back. "Casino, take the point. Goniff you bring up the rear."

The car was at the top of the path but parked off the road down in some brush where it couldn't be seen. The sniper obviously hadn't come out there alone and since they hadn't found anyone else there must have been just two men, Craig reasoned. One to stay and watch the house, one to go back and report where they were. If Casino was hearing a car traveling towards them in the silence of the morning it had to be a patrol coming back with that missing partner. The group moved out of the farmhouse and Garrison stood listening for a moment. He could hear it too, the faint sound of an engine gearing down to make the grade down into this small valley. They might just have enough time to make it…but only if that other man hadn't found the car before he took off.

"Alright! Get going!"

Casino set out at a fast pace. He knew they had to make it up to the car while that other vehicle was still on the road. Once those guys pulled off and cut the engine any noise they made would give them away. He glanced behind him once, just to make sure the woman was between him and the Warden where she was supposed to be. All she had to do to foul this up was hang back because she was worried about her husband. She was right behind him though, right where she belonged. He picked up speed and put a little distance between them so if anyone was up on the path ahead of them he'd be the one they'd go after, giving the others a little time to pull back into the brush along the trail and make a stand, maybe even get away.

There was a little rise to the path just above the spot where the car was hidden. Casino stopped there, straining to hear over the pounding of his own heart. The other car was still on the road making its way towards them, they still had a chance. He turned and urgently waved the others forward. When the woman reached him he pulled her around and pointed her towards the car, watching as she skidded down the slight incline. As soon as Garrison reached him he started down, turning to offer support as the Warden carried Carrigan towards the car, just as Goniff was doing from behind. Jeeze! All they needed was to drop the guy now, that would really slow them down.

By the time the men reached the vehicle Rebekka already had the doors open. She'd found the basket tossed aside on the ground and loaded the boy in it and wedged him between the seats on the floor in the back, stripping her coat off to pad and protect him. Climbing in she waited for them to pass Jeffery to her.

Garrison unloaded Carrigan on the back seat of the car, motioned Casino to stay where he was, and took Goniff back onto the trail with him. They didn't have enough time to brush out the tracks they'd left coming up from the house so they'd have to take a chance and lay a set clear up to the road to mask where they'd turned off for their hiding place. He led his second story man along, zigzagging, and back tracking to make it look like more than just the two of them had made the climb to the top of the path. The sound of the other vehicle was dangerously close now, almost right on top of them, as they made a dash along the gravel and disappeared into the undergrowth along the side of the road.

g

Casino tensed and took aim at the slight rustle of leaves a few yards in front of the car. He relaxed and took a deep breath when the brush parted and Goniff, followed by the Warden, slipped through. The two men made their way to the car and climbed in, Goniff on the floor in back where he could help keep Carrigan secure, the Warden up front to ride shotgun.

They heard a heavy vehicle pull to a stop up on the road. The engine cut off and there was the sound of a door opening, followed by the complaining squeal of a hinge, probably on the tailgate in back. Murmured voices, giving and acknowledging orders, the tramp of boots as the men climbed out of the truck and then started carefully down the path.

Garrison motioned them further down in their seats and held his hand up for silence. If their car's hiding place had been found some of those soldiers would be dispatched to secure it, if not, they should all head for the house…

The sound of the oncoming men grew louder. They reached the rise just above their hiding place and stopped. They could hear the rustle of their pursuers clothing as they waited, and then the sound of one set of firmly placed boots hitting the muddy earth as the officer in charge joined his men.

Every heart in the car stopped when a small whining cry drifted up from the bundle on the floor at Rebekka's feet. She shifted and quickly worked her hand down through the layers of fabric to give the child the tip of her finger to quiet him. Luck was with them and a breeze gusted along their gully at the same time, bringing the sounds of the men up on the path clearly to them while it spread the infant's small cry out for only the trees to hear.

Garrison relaxed a bit and gave Casino a thumbs up when the hoarsely whispered commands of the officer in charge reached him. He was splitting the group up, alright, but he was sending them to surround the house… The sound of the men moved past them and faded away towards the farmhouse. Casino reached for the ignition but Garrison held him back. He'd give the patrol a little while longer to spread out and get in position.

The safe cracker counted his heart beats as he waited for the signal… it seemed like a million of them ticked by before…

"Go!"

Casino turned the key and the engine roared to life. Slamming it in gear and adding gas he started the car fishtailing forward along the shallow, muddy, gully where it had been hidden. As soon as they broke through the underbrush and the tires hit the road, the rubber gained traction and the vehicle straightened out and started to pick up speed.

Pulling past the covered truck both men swore as they spotted the driver still sitting behind the wheel. Even as they accelerated away they could hear the heavy engine cough to life and the driver pound out a call for help on the horn.

Garrison swung around in the seat, pressing his back against the dash as he brought his automatic rifle up to firing position. "Get down!" he ordered before blasting the back window out.

Goniff ruffled a few nuggets of broken glass out of his hair, brushed it off their injured agent and checked on the woman as she did the same. He turned one saucer eyed look on the Warden before he took up his rifle and used the butt of it to knock out the remaining glass to give Garrison a clear shot out the back.

"How far to the pick up?" Casino shouted over the whine of the engine.

"About ten miles." The Warden shouted back. "Once we're off this winding road there's a three mile straight shot to the dock where the launch should be waiting."

Casino shook his head and swore. That was going to cause a problem. Once they hit that stretch it would be a flat out race… unless they got their tires blown out and spun off the road, or he lost control someplace and sent them crashing into a hillside.

"Here they come!" Goniff called out his warning, laid the barrel of the rifle on the back deck and tried to take aim on something important as Casino manhandled the car along the winding road. He was being tossed around too much to draw a bead on anything and finally just gave up and pulled the trigger, figuring he could at least make the other blokes duck.

"Don't waste your shots. There's nothing to reload with." Garrison ordered. At this distance and on this winding road they had little chance of hitting the vehicle behind them. If the truck gained on them he'd take a chance and try for their tires or the engine, otherwise they would have to wait until they reached that straight stretch of road.

They only had three rifles to go up against probably a dozen, he thought, the hand guns wouldn't be any use at all… not until the vehicles stopped moving and if that happened they'd already be as good as dead. Craig shot a quick look at the woman and knew what he would have to do then. Carrigan was right, the reports were probably about his wife, and given her background he knew what would happened to her, and the child, if they were caught. He knew couldn't allow that, even if it meant he'd have to kill all three of them himself.

A burst of machine gun fire from the truck behind them sent them all ducking for cover. Casino pulled the car in a tight turn to follow the road and then straightened out leaving Garrison with a clear shot at the vehicle gaining on them. He took it and managed to shatter the windshield for the pursuing driver. The truck slowed as the spiderweb of cracks spread and the vehicle nearly went off the road as the soldier reflexively pulled hard over to the right. Someone on the passengers side performed the same service Goniff had, and knocked the damaged glass out of the way. The truck started to pick up speed again but the driver was a little more cautious, and he was now fighting the wind that tore at his face and eyes as they raced along.

Goniff kept his hand on Rebekka's back, keeping her down between the seat backs where it was relatively safe and she was out of the Warden's way. He wasn't as good a shot as the others in the group and he knew it, there was no reason for him to even try under these conditions, so he'd hold his weapon in reserve, handing it over when Garrison's ammunition ran out. He felt the pistol press into his side, he was better with a hand gun at close range but he prayed he wouldn't have to prove that.

Casino put the brakes on in preparation for making the hairpin turn up ahead. They were headed down at a pretty good angle and the road turned back almost on itself. It looked like there'd been a small fire in the inside loop of the road. There were no trees left to give them cover, those guys were going to get a clean shot at their side from their position above them. He slowed down even more, deciding he'd rather have them right on his tail, and close enough for the Warden to do some damage, than give them that kind of advantage.

Garrison shot a look over his shoulder at the road when he felt the vehicle brake. He could see what was coming and knew what the safe cracker had decided to do. Shifting his position he rested the barrel of the weapon on the back of the seat to stabilize it and crouched down so he could sight along it. The soldiers riding in the back of the truck had torn the canvass cover away and a couple of them were up taking pot shots at them over the cab of the truck. The way they were rocking and swaying they weren't much of a threat and he ignored them, taking aim on the broad front grille instead.

The driver of the truck was fixated on the fleeing car. His eyes were locked onto the rear bumper of the vehicle, his mind concentrating on paring down the distance between them. He could hear the members of his patrol firing on the enemy, he could see sparks shoot away as their bullets ricocheted off the metal frame of the car ahead. He saw the smoke from the brakes, smelled the burning rubber as the driver ahead tried to slow his car. A shout from the officer riding next to him broke his concentration and at the last moment he saw the upcoming turn and slammed on his brakes.

Garrison watched as the truck following them nosed down when the driver hit the brakes, the men in the back scrambled to stay on board, some of them losing their weapons over the side. He took his shot just before Casino downshifted and hit the turn and was rewarded by the sight of steam escaping from under the hood of the German truck. It probably wasn't enough to stop them, at least not immediately, but it was something else for the driver to deal with.

Casino accelerated out of the turn and then shot the Warden a triumphant grin. "That work out for you?!"

"Yeah!" Garrison grinned back. "Any time you can do that'll work out just fine!"

"You got it!" The group's explosives expert promised as he worked his way up through the gears again and gained speed along this straighter section of road. He took a split second to check the trucks progress in the mirror… They were just making their turn and had slowed to almost a crawl compared to his speed.

Casino turned his attention to the road in front of them. The trees were closing in and the shadows they cast made it seem like they were entering a tunnel. There was another jog to the right ahead that caused him to hit the brakes and downshift. He started to accelerate out of the curve when an idea hit him. Glancing over at the Warden he could see he was on the same wavelength. Letting their speed drop he let the car's momentum keep them rolling forward through the dense shade.

When the truck entered the dark shade the driver hit the brakes as expected. Garrison's eyes had already adjusted to the dim light but the German soldiers were still blind. He had a clear shot and he took it. A burst from his rifle cleared the front row of men standing in the back of the truck but it also gave the others muzzle flash to aim at. He could hear those bullets pinging off the roof and thudding into the body of the car as Casino accelerated back into the morning sunshine.

They were able to repeat their trick once more before the soldier driving the truck learned his lesson and started hanging back. After that Casino just made the best speed he could and put as much space between them as possible. One more turn brought them out onto a bluff. No more trees, no more chances to set up an ambush, just a zigzag road down to the flat land and then a straight run to the sea.

"How many guys are gonna be waiting at that boat with Actor and Chief?"

"Three, maybe four." Garrison answered as he recovered Casino's rifle from the floor in front of the seat. "They'll see us coming in time to get set."

If it was just a fight between the two forces they'd have a good chance. He'd just about evened the odds for them. The officer on the truck had probably been in radio contact with others though, so all he really had to do was pin them down. If he kept them from transferring to the launch that would take them out to the waiting boat he'd buy time for reinforcements to arrive and that would be the end of it. He had to find someway to knock that truck completely out but he couldn't do anything with Carrigan's family in the car. He turned and scanned the landscape ahead of them as they made the last, lurching turn before they hit the straight away… nothing but level fields full of stubble, blending into the mud and sand flats that ended at the sea…not even a ditch along the road to roll out and hide in.

"Hang on!" Casino shouted as he floored it. The car was a big one. One of the fancy armored jobs that officers liked. He should be flying by now, he thought, because his foot was shoved almost through the damn floorboard. Without the help of gravity pulling him down hill it seemed like they were just crawling along. He checked the mirror again, the truck behind them had just come out of that last turn and was starting to pick up speed. Hitting the clutch he shoved the stick up into the highest gear and swore in frustration, "C'mon you son of a bitch! Get goin!"

Half a minute later they were finally moving at top speed, weaving back and forth across the road … The truck, keeping a straight line, must have had more power than they did, it was gaining on them. They had another little problem too, there was another vehicle headed right for them and it was closing fast.

"Blimey! What'd we do now?!"

"Goniff secure those people, we might have to leave the road." Garrison turned and settled himself in the seat and brought his rifle up and took aim on the oncoming vehicle. A patrol must have been dispatched to cover the coast... That meant Actor and Chief were captured or dead, along with the underground team that was to meet them with the boat. Craig settled the weapon more securely, pulling it tight into his shoulder. "Casino hold this damn thing steady."

Casino did as he was told. It bought them a little increase in forward speed but it made them an easier target and the Krauts immediately took advantage. Bullets pinged off the steel plate that protected them. The soldiers were on a higher level, he didn't think they'd be able to get a shot inside, until a slug whistled past his ear and turned the windscreen into a spider's web of splintered glass. Casino instinctively threw his arms up to protect his face and the car, left on its own, jerked to the left before he could reach out and take control again. The movement jostled them all and threw the Warden's aim off, he was just getting set again when the group's safe cracker shouted, "Jeeze! Hold your fire! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"


	12. Chapter 12

gggggggggg

Chief watched the oncoming car, when it jerked to the right, he took advantage and calmly pulled over and passed them on the left, when the truck that was following pulled to the left, he made a smooth shift to the right. Once he passed them he hauled the wheel over and pulled the car into a u-turn. The tires spun for a moment before they sent rooster tails of mud and dirt up as he left the road in the tight turn designed to let him fall in behind the truckload of soldiers.

The smaller car was faster and more maneuverable. It wasn't hampered by armor plate like the one that carried the others, but that left the two men far more vulnerable to attack. Chief eased up closer to the truck and Actor was careful to hold his weapon down out of sight. It wouldn't do to give themselves away too soon, but from the smiling faces of the soldiers on the back of the truck in front of them it looked like the con was holding up.

"Careful." Actor said. "We will only get one opportunity to make this work."

The younger man merely nodded and let the car drift to the left to check the position of Garrison's car. Whoever was driving had gone back to their zigzag course, they were obviously taking fire again. "You think they'll know what you've got in mind?"

"I hope so."

g

"They're in position!" Garrison called out. "Goniff, you set?"

They'd shifted Carrigan off onto the floor, his wife still on the seat in the corner, hunched over to protect the little one and keep him as still as possible. The little pick pocket was crouched sideways in the back facing the door to his right, one hand gripped the back of the Warden's seat, his other hand had a white knuckle grip on his rifle. The windows were down on that side of the car and the wind almost tore his answer out of him before he was ready to give it. "Right." was all he managed to say.

"You think those guys are gonna know what we're up to?" Casino ducked reflexively as another 'lucky' shot sang past him and hit the shattered windscreen. This one punched a hole the size of his fist out of the glass and the sound of wind whistling through it was added to the roar of air passing the side windows.

"There's no other reason for them to be back there. Chief's just waiting for us to make our move." Garrison answered confidently, forgetting for the moment how close he'd come to killing two of his own men. He turned his back on the east coast con and wedged himself in as securely as he could. "Hit it!"

Casino put on a burst of speed and increased the distance between the two vehicles. He checked the mirror one last time, took a deep breath and jammed on the brakes, hauling the wheel over to the right he sent the car into a sideways skid down the road that left Garrison and Goniff facing the oncoming truck. The truck's driver slammed on his brakes in reaction, throwing most of the soldiers in back off their feet. Chief bringing up the rear, made a similar maneuver, throwing his car to the left, giving Actor a clean shot out the passenger's side window.

Garrison and Goniff sprayed the front of the truck with automatic rifle fire, trusting Actor to do the same in back. After a moment the front tires were flat, the small arms fire emanating from the passengers side of the cab, and the few shots from the soldiers who'd managed to hold onto their weapons and stay on their feet in the back ended.

"Get us moving!" Garrison ordered and as Casino pulled the car off the road and passed the truck on the right he continued to pour fire onto the back of the truck. He could hear Actor doing the same, he could see the results. By the time they'd made one complete circuit around the truck, and the car Chief drove pulled up along side them, the occupants of the truck were all down, either dead or dying, and the overworked engine was on fire. "Alright," he ordered quietly, "get us out of here."

g

They were only half a mile from their goal when they took out the truck. Even at their more sedate speed it only took a minute more to reach the landing and just as Casino pulled over to stop, the car's engine coughed once and died. He leaned forward and tapped the fuel gage before turning a raised eyebrow on the others. "How'd ya like that?"

"Blimey! You cut that a little close, din't ya mate?!" Goniff complained as shoved his door open and backed out of it.

Casino rolled out of his side of the car and opened the door for Rebekka, shooting his retort over the top of the car. "What d'you mean? I planned that just perfect!"

"Knock it off." Garrison ordered, he pushed himself out of the car only to be met by his worried second.

"Caro dio!" Actor reached a supporting hand out and grasp the Lieutenant by the arm. "Are you all right?"

The Warden glanced down at his blood soaked uniform for the first time, then back up to meet his second's shocked gaze. "I'm fine... It's all Carrigan's." Turning he made his way around the front of the car, closely followed by the con man.

Casino reached out and laid a hand gently on Rebekka's shoulder. "Ma'am, you gotta get out a the way now so we can take care of him." He helped her from the car and by the time Goniff had reached into the back of the car and pulled the basket off the floor and turned to hand the baby over there was another woman there by her side, already wrapping a blanket around her shoulders and drawing the young woman away from the car.

The men carefully shifted Carrigan back up onto the seat and then slid him out of the car as gently as they could. As soon as he was stretched out on the beach Actor reached out to the bloody binding only to be stopped by Garrison. "That can wait. We've got to get out of here, now! That guy on the truck probably radioed for help."

Slinging the injured man between them they made their way down to the small dock and onto the launch. Rebekka already sat under the canopy, the other woman's arm draped protectively around her shoulders. The Warden turned a questioning look on Actor.

The Italian shrugged and flipped open the first aid kit Goniff had brought down from the car as they placed Jeffery on the floor at her feet. "The boatman's wife. When she heard we had a newborn with us there was nothing we could to do stop her from coming along." He split a glance between the husband and wife as he sank to his knees next to the injured man and started to untie the binding. "It seems she may be in need of the company... What happened?"

Garrison knelt next to him as the boat pulled away from the dock, leaving the other three to see to their security. "There was a sniper. He got hit when we tried to leave the house." Using his knife he helped to cut away the fabric, revealing the tattered sleeve over the injury. "He was losing so much blood I had to use a tourniquet… It's been in place for a long time."

Actor checked the ligature, in their flight it had loosened slightly, blood oozed up from the wound but the arm and hand below it were ice cold and the color of wax. He slipped the wooden handle from the knot holding it in place and backed the tension off. The blood flow to the wound increased, the color of the limb below changed only slightly.

"Is he going to lose that arm?" their commander asked quietly.

He was no expert, but it didn't look promising. In his present condition any additional blood loss would probably prove fatal. "I believe so,..." Actor could also hear the guilt and concern that tinged the Warden's question, "but better an arm than a life."

"Are you so sure he'd think so?"

"I suppose we should leave it up to her." Actor shifted his position so that he was resting on his knees in front of Carrigan's wife. He carefully wiped the blood from his hands and took her hand in his and explained the choice they faced. It appeared that the elbow joint and the bone above it had been shattered by the bullet that hit the young man. Even if the arm could be saved it would probably not be of much use. They could loosen the tourniquet, he told her, to see if they could save the hand and arm but they would be playing with his life... Or they could sacrifice the arm and give him a better chance to survive.

"Selbstverständlich muss es getan werden." She decided quietly. Rebekka turned and handed her son to the other woman. Dropping onto the floor she took Jeffery's head onto her lap. "Do you think, after all of this, I will give up and let my husband die now? He has two hands and only one life... Do what you must to save him.... I will explain it to him,..." and she looked across at Garrison. "I will take the responsibility."

ggg

They'd been back for several days, the time, as usual, taken up in rounds of debriefing the last mission, and meetings setting up the next one, that kept the Warden away from the mansion while they caught up on their rest and put up with the Sergeant Major's endless practice drills. Garrison had been in London since daybreak and it was nearly time for the evening meal when he finally walked back into the library where they were all gathered.

"Did you get in to see him?" Actor asked. He knew the Lieutenant had been making regular stops by the hospital where Carrigan was a patient since they'd returned but had only been allowed in to see him once.

"Yeah." Garrison collapsed into a chair by the fire and leaned back, closing his eyes. He'd had an early morning meeting with the brass in London, then he'd spent a couple of hours waiting for the permission to come through for him to see Carrigan, who was in a security quarantine until he could be properly debriefed, after that he'd gone out to check on Rebekka and the baby where they were being housed.

"How's he doing?" Goniff nudged the Warden's arm until he opened his eyes again, when he did he held out the glass he'd filled for him from the brandy bottle that sat on the credenza near the door.

"Alright, I guess." Craig accepted the offering with a grateful smile and took a sip. "He's still on a lot of medication for pain, but right now he's considering himself pretty lucky…"

"Lucky?!" Casino snorted in disbelief. "Jeeze, didn't he notice they took one of his arms off?" He jabbed a finger in their second's direction. "_And _Actor says he could be lookin' at a court-martial for what he pulled over there. Doesn't he know that?"

"He knows Casino." Pushing up out of his chair Garrison went over to the hearth and spent a moment staring into the fire before turning back to face his men. "He also knows he came out of it alive, and so did his wife and baby. He knows that they're all safe and, right now anyway, they're all together. I guess that's all that's important to him."

"What'll happen to him? On the court-martial I mean. Do you think they'll do it?"

"I don't know, Goniff." Garrison shook his head as he rolled the glass between his hands. "What'll happen first is they'll interview both of them. They'll have to dredge up every memory of every contact they had over there and then try and reproduce any conversations they had with that person. Then intelligence will evaluate it all and see if anything was compromised. I don't think they'll find any problem though."

"What makes you so sure?" Chief finally joined the conversation from his chosen spot near the large French doors.

"We would have been losing agents if they'd been on to him." He looked around at the group and reminded them, "We'd probably be dead if he'd been compromised…Someone would have followed us back to that hotel. Even if the Germans only suspected him they would have tried to send false information through him, and all of his stuff checked out." He continued to study them and could tell they still weren't convinced. "Look, I've told you this before. The Army knows how long he's been over there. They know the kind of stress an agent is under when they're undercover that long."

Actor, at least, could see a little something more in the Warden's face. "You've already put in your report haven't you? What did you say?"

He thought it over a moment, deciding how much he would tell them. "I reminded them how long Carrigan had been in place over there. I also reminded them how long he had been on the same job, and in the same town. I told them that I thought, given the circumstances, a man his age _not_ developing a relationship with a woman would probably have drawn too much attention."

"You tell them about him slipping that stuff in your food, then Warden?"

He considered the little man for a moment and then the corner of his mouth lifted in a quick smile. "I don't remember anything like that happening, Goniff. And I read over the notes of the conversations Reynolds and his team had with you guys... seems none of you thought it was important enough to mention."

"Jeeze! So we covered for him on that little bit of business! It's the brass…." Casino tossed the paper he'd been trying to read down in disgust. "They're still gonna nail him."

Garrison sighed in frustration, the safe cracker was probably right. "Even if they do he won't be doing any prison time. His injury will keep him from that. And if they try a dishonorable discharge they can appeal it…"

"But what about her and the baby?" Goniff cut in.

"Yeah!" Casino immediately took up the cause. "She a Kraut. They'r never gonna let her go with him when they ship him back to the states."

"Casino! Mrs. Carrigan is a German Jew, not a Kraut!" Actor chastised his teammate. "Her child is the legitimate son of an American citizen."

"Well they might let the kid go, but she won't get in. You'r nuts if you think their gonna recognize that marriage. It happened in Germany! _AND_ she was usin' a phony name."

"Reynolds is already working on that." Garrison informed the group.

"Reynolds?!" they returned, almost as one.

The Warden took a deep breath and leaned back against the mantel letting the fire soak into his back and legs. "It turns out Rebekka's father, Georg Joseph Meier, was a professor of mathematics. Both American and British intelligence targeted certain people and tried to get them out of Europe long before the war started… He was one of them they contacted, but he refused to leave."

"That's her old man, and he's dead!" The group's explosives expert scoffed, sticking with his pessimistic point of view to the end. "What difference is it gonna make to her?"

"It's been suggested that she might know something about his work."

Actor's mouth lifted in a smile. "And just who suggested that?"

Garrison shrugged his shoulders and returned to his chair. "I have no idea," he said, innocently

"Right!" Casino waited for the laughter to die down before he turned a stiffened finger in the Wardens direction. "You can't go around connin' the brass like that! They could find out and haul your butt off to Leavenworth, what'd happen to us then, huh!?"

"Thanks for your concern for my career and reputation, Casino, but I checked it out with her this evening. She did work with him, as his secretary and assistant, while she was still in school." He settled in and took another sip from his glass. "And we've checked… the marriage is considered legal, she wasn't using that name to defraud anyone, and it _will_ be recognized in the states."

"But, even if they let her, what's she gonna do over there all on her own? He'll be laid up a long time." Goniff had sat with her before the others got to the farmhouse. He'd held the baby when she was worrying over her husband… He'd done his best to keep her safe in that nerve wracking car ride.

"Carrigan's not ready to travel yet and the Intelligence section still has to pass on them…" Garrison looked up from his drink and fixed his gaze on Casino. "Once they're ready to go Sergeant Carrigan will be transferred stateside to the hospital where they sent me. I thought maybe you could ask your parents to watch out for her, Casino."

Goniff brightened immediately. 'Hey! That's bloody brilliant!" then he turned a worried frown on his teammate. "D'you think they'd do it?"

Casino grinned. "Jeeze! Are you kiddin'? There's a baby involved, isn't there?! Of course they'll do it!" He rubbed his hands together. "When d'you think they'll release that guy? It takes a long time to get a letter back to the states, y'know?"

"I've set up a call for twenty-one-hundred, their time. You'll have to get up pretty early, Casino, but you'll be able to asked them in the morning."

g

For once they were all up, dressed and downstairs well before Sergeant Major Rawlins, their usual alarm, was even dreaming about being awake. A pot of coffee had been brought up from the kitchen and Casino, Goniff and Actor sat sharing a cup in the library. Garrison was working at his desk in his office across the hall with Chief keeping him company. As soon as the phone rang Casino made a bee-line for it but held back waiting for the signal.

Garrison answered in his office, confirmed the call with the operator and nodded to Chief. The young man stepped to the door and launched a shout across to the library. "It's OK, Casino, you can pick up now."

"Ma! Hey, Ma! Me and the Warden got a favor to ask…. What? Well a course I love you!… Huh?... Alright! Hello, Ma. I love you, Ma... Now, about that favor…."


End file.
